Floridas new law requiring welfare recipients to undergo drug tests before receiving temporary cash assistance garnered high marks in a study released on Wednesday by the Naples-based Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), a conservative think tank.

Tarren Bragdon, a former Maine state representative who is the president and CEO of the FGA, authored The Impact of Floridas New Drug Test Requirement for Welfare Cash Assistance.

Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, now running in the crowded Republican primary to take on Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, unveiled the second in a series of Web videos -- this one focusing on why he chose to enter the race.

Republican presidential hopeful former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman announced on Wednesday that prominent business leaders were joining his campaign in an advisory capacity. In a statement, Huntsman unveiled the support of John Mack, the executive chairman of the board of Morgan Stanley. Mack will serve as chairman of the Huntsman campaigns Business Advisory Council.Other council members include Gary Loveman, the chairman, president and CEO of Caesars Entertainment Corp.; Nike co-founder Phil Knight; and former U.S. Chamber of Commerce Chairman Tom Bell.

On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., hammered the Obama administration over education.

Rubio sent a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan regarding the administrations handling of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and forcing states to follow policies backed by the White House.

Mike McCalister, a retired Army colonel and a businessman who is running for the Republican nomination to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, is stressing his conservative credentials. Next week, McCalister will clash with three of his main rivals -- former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, and businessman Craig Miller -- at a forum and straw poll in Orlando which will be part of the American Conservative Unions (ACU) Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Florida meeting. The CPAC event will be held on Friday, Sept. 23.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis took aim at President Barack Obama on immigration on Tuesday and called on the president to end his latest amnesty plan.

Bilirakis maintained that the administration was backing a policy to deport only select illegal aliens -- namely those who are criminals or are considered threats --while showing no signs of looking to deport the overwhelming majority of illegal aliens.

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, continuing his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, took aim at President Barack Obamas Middle East policy on Wednesday.

While Americans have been focused on the economy and domestic politics, the Middle East has been deteriorating in very threatening ways, noted Gingrich in an e-mail sent out to supporters. In the last few months, events have begun to turn against the United States, Israel, and freedom in the Middle East."

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, the chairman of the U.S. House subcommittee on oversight and investigations under the umbrella of the full Energy and Commerce Committee, will have the Obama administration in his line of fire on Wednesday -- namely the Energy Department sending $535 million in federal funds to Solyndra, a California-based green energy company that declared bankruptcy last month.

The American Conservative Union (ACU) announced that Gov. Rick Scott and Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll will be heading to Orlando to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) meeting on Friday, Sept. 23.

In less than a year on the job, Rick Scott has made good on his promises to Floridians: lowering taxes, reducing government spending and promoting economic development in the Sunshine State, said Al Cardenas, the chairman of the ACU and a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, in a statement released on Tuesday.

Craig Miller, the Central Florida businessman who is running for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, announced his financial leadership on Tuesday.

Miller, the former CEO of Ruth's Chris and Uno Restaurants, unveiled the backing of Winter Park Mayor Ken Bradley, Republican activist Armando Gutierrez Jr., restaurant owner Gale Lemerand, businessman Doug Long, and Dick Rivera --another veteran of the restaurant industry.