The Sunshine States fight against prescription-drug abuse and pill mills received a bit of help from the federal government on Monday when Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan unveiled The Pill Mill Crackdown Act of 2011 with support of congressmen from both parties.

Buchanans legislation would direct money seized from pill mill operators to be used for drug treatment, increase fines and sentences for those convicted of running pill mills and change standards, making hydrocodone drugs harder to obtain.

The Senate Community Affairs Committee passed along a bill that would prevent the automatic deduction of government-worker union dues by a razor thin margin Monday in a 5-4 vote.

Senate Bill 830, sponsored by Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville, would allow state and local government workers to authorize union dues deductions and approve money spent on political purposes on a yearly basis, but it surprisingly ran into opposition by some Republicans on the committee.

As I prepare for the morning every weekday, I listen online to the Sports Final Radio show from WJXL 1010 AM out of my hometown of Jacksonville. Monday was a little out of the ordinary. Instead of hearing about how the Jaguars plan to make another run at a mediocre record next season, the show was dominated by angry callers who were horrified that the Duval County School Board, facing a $97 million shortfall, was considering cutting high school athletics.

Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, unveiled the second of his series of video blog updates on the 2011 session. Workman touched on the Houses passage of unemployment compensation reform, reforms to state pensions and a growth management bill facing the Military and Local Affairs Committee this week.

Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, released a video update late last week, updating an update on the progress of legislation related to the economic impact of the Gulf oil spill.

Conservative activist John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, offered his take on the first week of the 2011 legislative session in an update to supporters sent out over the weekend.

Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio weighed in over the weekend on Cuba sentencing Alan Gross, an American the Castro regime accuses of spying while his defenders maintain he was helping with setting up communications technology.

Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said on Monday morning that he would oppose any more continuing budget resolutions and demanded Congress pass a full budget.

Citizens Property Insurance, the state-run insurance company, will not be allowed to issue policies for new construction in environmentally sensitive or coastal areas if a bill sponsored by Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, makes it into law.

Hays said he wants to move Citizens back to an insurer of last resort and make it more actuarially sound and on a more level playing field with the private insurance market.

Freshman Republican U.S. Rep. David Rivera is ranked as one of the most vulnerable congressional incumbents come 2012 due to ethics questions. But Rivera showed on Friday that he has no intention of going down without a fight, firing back at Democrats on spending.

Democrats in the Senate and the White House have failed to lead in the debate on cutting federal spending, said Rivera. They threatened to reject the House-sponsored continuing resolution before the House even approved it, and they have yet to present a credible alternative that truly cuts federal spending