A bill that would reduce the maximum number of state unemployment compensation weeks from 26 to 20 breezed through the House Economic Affairs Committee Friday in a partisan vote.

Rep. Doug Holder, R-Sarasota, who sponsored the bill and is vice chair of the committee, said his legislation was aimed at replenishing the unemployment compensation trust fund, which has been depleted in recent years due to the rising unemployment rate.

"That trust fund has to be replenished so we have to make tough decisions," Holder said.

Chris Cillizza over at the Washington Post has a top 10 list of political newcomers -- and three Florida Republicans made the list. Cillizza listed Gov. Rick Scott, U.S. Rep. Allen West and U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland on his list.

Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, over at the site of iconic conservative magazine National Review,offered his thoughts on the uprisings that have shaken Libya.

With news breaking that authorities arrested a Saudi Arabian student attending school in Texas for plotting terrorist attacks, including one targeting former President George W. Bush, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis repeated his call for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to crack down on student visas.

Concerned about prescription drug abuse, the House Health and Human Services Committee mulled over controlled substances on Thursday

The Senate Rules Committee voted unanimously Thursday to send a letter of admonition to their leader, Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, for an ethics violation.

Haridopolos admitted last year to unintentionally leaving out information on his financial disclosure forms from 2004 through 2008.

A new poll from Rasmussen Reports showed that Americans disapproved, by a wide margin, of Democratic legislators in Wisconsin fleeing the state to avoid a bill to cut benefits for state employees. Only 25 percent of likely voters backed the Democrats while 67 percent disapproved of their tactic. The poll found that, even among Democratic voters, there was significant opposition to the strategy with 44 percent of them disapproving.

The poll of 1,000 likely voters took place on Feb. 22-23 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.

At 4:50 p.m. Thursday, the space shuttle Discovery will be launching from Cape Canaveral. Since first taking off in 1984, this will be the Discoverys 39th and final mission before being decommissioned.

This makes the Discovery the most traveled space ship in history. The Discovery took part in a number of milestones for the American space program, including the 100th space shuttle mission and John Glenn's return to space.

The launch can be watched online at NASAs website.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, fresh off a meeting of the state clemency board on Thursday, announced her opposition to the automatic restoration of the civil rights of convicted felons.

Here is the statement from her office:

What does Republican U.S. Rep. Rich Nugent, a member of the Tea Party Caucus, want to do with the $2.4 billion in federal funds rejected by Gov. Rick Scott for high-speed rail -- pay down the national debt or use them for other transportation projects in Florida?

Nugent said last week that he backed the governors decision and hoped the monies would be used to pay down the national debt.