Gov. Rick Scott has repeatedly said that business and property tax cuts included in his budget proposal are essential to getting Florida's economy back on track, but he went a step further Friday in his weekly radio address, saying he won't compromise with the Legislature, which doesn't include those tax cuts in the House and Senate budgets.

Here is the governor's complete statement:

After two hours of contentious debate, the Florida House voted on Friday to approve forwarding a proposed constructional amendment to the voters. The proposal passed on a vote that mirrored party lines, with 79 Republicans backing the measure and 38 Democrats voting against it.

A bill prohibiting the automatic deduction of public-sector union dues for political purposes will head to the floor of the Senate after clearing its final hurdle in the Rules Committee Friday, but not before it received some changes allowing public-worker unions to receive automatic deductions for nonpolitical purposes.

Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, said the amendment clears up the issue he claims was being muddied by union members during a previous committee hearing earlier this week.

A bill that would put a constitutional amendment before voters, banning state and federal tax dollars being used to pay for abortions, is closer to becoming reality after it passed its final Senate committee Friday.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, includes exceptions for cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life or physical well-being of the mother.

"This in no way takes away the right of a woman to have an abortion. It simply says state money cannot be used to get an abortion," Flores said.

The Agency for Workforce Innovation announced on Friday that, in March 2011, the state unemployment rate dropped to 11.1 percent, the lowest it had been since November 2009. The rate had stood at 11.5 percent in February.

The continued decline in the unemployment rate paired with very positive job growth provides a strong signal that Floridas economy has turned the corner, said Cynthia Lorenzo, the director of the agency. While there are still too many Floridians out of work, our economy is clearly heading in the right

Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio released a video statement late on Thursday explaining why he could not back the budget deal.

Gov. Rick Scott met Thursday withRaila Amollo Odinga, the prime minister of Kenya, highlighting increased trade between Florida and the East African nation. Scott said he was fond of the country, having travelled extensively through Kenya.

On Thursday, Gov. Rick Scott cheered the news that the Kennedy Space Center would house the Atlantis. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced that the Space Coast beat out a number of rivals, including Houston, Wright Air Force Base in Ohio and Seattle, to house the space shuttle orbiter.

While he did not enter the competitive Republican primary to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Connie Mack showed this week that he has no intention of heading to the political sidelines.

On Wednesday, Mack, who had been named chairman of the Repeal Task Force set up by the Republican Study Committee earlier in the month, unveiled his new group and came out swinging at the presidents speech on the national debt made earlier in the day.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear spoke Thursday before the U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade on the rampant abuse of prescription drugs in both states.