Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, and Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, were quick to issue releases Tuesday applauding the passing of the "smart cap" bill that would allow voters to decide whether to place a cap on state revenues.

'Smart cap' was an early priority for Senate Republicans for good reason. By creating revenue limits on state government, we will prevent the overuse of taxpayer dollars and avoid digging a deeper financial hole for our children.

Florida senators voted to pass the "smart cap" bill Tuesday that would place a constitutional amendment before voters in 2012 to limit state revenues.

Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, swept aside concerns over the bill's effect on the state's bond rating and changing the Constitution.

"The folks in the chamber who believe in fiscal restraint can say to the people, 'Do you want to have that for the future?' This is something we're going to put before the people. If government takes less, the people have more," Bogdanoff said.

On Tuesday, Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio joined with U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to propose that taxpayers could designate 10 percent of their tax liability to pay down the national debt. The senators maintained that refunds would not be impacted. McCain has introduced similar proposals for the IRS to include this option in previous years.

According to a piece run by Politico on Tuesday, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. David Rivera continues to face pressure from the GOP. As questions continue to arise regarding Riveras ethics, Politico is reporting that a few possible primary challengers are thinking about 2012. From the article:

From his perch as the chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee for the Energy and Commerce Committee, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns sent letters on Monday to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius and Gene Dodaro, the comptroller general of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) demanding to know how much Medicaid and Medicare fraud costs taxpayers.

In tandem with House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, opened the door Monday for bills that were vetoed by former Gov. Charlie Crist in 2010 to be passed into law via legislative overrides.

The House and Senate already passed 10 overrides of Crist vetoes during a special legislative session in November, two weeks after Republicans gained a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.

Here is the letter Haridopolos sent to his fellow senators:

House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, informed members on Monday that he was going to allow committee chairs the option of pushing legislation that was vetoed by Gov. Charlie Crist last year -- including measures on teacher performance pay reform and mandating ultrasounds for women considering abortions.

On an otherwise quiet Monday in the Florida House, the Health and Human Services Committee held another session on Medicaid reform, holding a workshop and touching on the differences between last years proposal and this years legislation.

Democratic legislators highlighted their opposition to immigration reform proposals in the House and Senate Monday, vowing to fight measures that would ensure businesses do not hire illegal workers and punish those that do.

Sens. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, and Oscar Braynon, D-Miami, said the immigration issue should be handled by the federal government, and that "Arizona-lite" bills would adversely hurt the state's economy.

"Arizona has a black eye in the world. We don't need that black eye here in Florida," Joyner said.

With Japan reeling from nuclear accidents, Gov. Rick Scott authorized the state Division of Emergency Management to review Floridas plans in case any of the five nuclear facilities in the Sunshine State had similiar accidents.