Gov. Rick Scott will kick off a "Share a Little Sunshine Tour" of some of the areas hit hardest by the nation's cold winter this year, to promote tourism in Florida.

Scott will hold a rally Tuesday at the University of Central Florida's Rosen School of Hospitality Management, along with VISIT FLORIDA, Visit Orlando, and the Partnership for Florida's Tourism, before heading to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York and Chicago later in the week.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has declared that his state will keep its traditional position as the first state primary in the presidential nominating process, telling CNN that he will move ahead of Florida if necessary.

Florida Republicans have stated their intention to hold the 2012 GOP presidential primary in January, even if that means risking losing delegates.

With Sen. Steve Wise, R-Jacksonville, set to retire in 2012 due to term limits, Republicans from across the state have rallied behind former Rep. Aaron Beans bid to replace him in the Senate.

Over the weekend, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. David Rivera toured the Everglades National Park and the Big Cypress National Preserve and pledged to fight to preserve them.

Our nation has a $14 trillion national debt, as well as record deficits, Rivera said. There is no question we are facing a difficult budget year. However, we're going to fight for our priorities within those constraints.

The offer of Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to give Florida an extra week to approve a plan to fund a high-speed rail line that would run from Tampa to Orlando has been rejected by state Senate President Mike Haridopolos.

Here's his statement:

Play ball!

A Florida tradition will be renewed on Saturday when the Grapefruit League kicks off with the first round of spring training games.

Four games kick off at 1:05 p.m. on Saturday. In Dunedin, the Toronto Blue Jays host the Detroit Tigers. Over in Port Charlotte, the Pittsburg Pirates visit the Tampa Bay Rays. The Philadelphia Phillies head to Tampa to play the New York Yankees. In Port St. Lucie, the New York Mets will host the Atlanta Braves.

Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, has sent a letter to Public Service Commission Chairman Art Graham criticising him for removing a link for public records requests from the PSC website, and asking him to put the link back up, noting that the PSC has been slow to fulfill public records requests in recent years.

Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, released a video report on Friday touching on a number of issues. Gardiner weighed in on education reform and the smart cap and committee work. With the senators back in their district next week, Gardiner told voters this was a good opportunity to reach out to their elected officials.

Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio revealed on Friday that he has been named to four subcommittees resulting from his service on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee-- including the Subcommittee on Science and Space which handles NASA.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross, the chairman of the congressional Oversight Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and Labor Policy, introduced his first bill on Friday which would require the federal government to use zero-based budgeting.