Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, has filed a bill targeting pain-management clinics, requiring greater standards for doctors andcompliance with national standards of the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program created in 2009.

The bill comes on the heels of a press conference held Thursday by Attorney General Pam Bondi, law enforcement officers and prosecutors, highlighting Florida's rate of seven deaths per day from drug prescription overdose and the need for new rules targeting the "pill mills."

You might think the number of jobs added to the economy and the nation's unemployment rate would be fairly in sync with each other -- not so in January.

The U.S. economy added 36,000 jobs last month, far fewer than the 136,000 economists had predicted, and another indication the economy is still failing to produce the necessary growth to get back on its feet. Epic snowstorms are taking much of the blame, since construction- and transportation-related industries in much of the country were directly affected.

The U.S .Department of Labor announced on Friday that the national unemployment rate dropped to 9 percent -- the lowest it has been since April 2009.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney weighed in on the matter on Friday and said that President Barack Obamas economic policies were not working.

Gov. Rick Scott announced his plan Thursday to reduce -- and ultimately eliminate -- the state's business income tax, with a reduction from 5.5 percent to 3 percent to be included in his first budget proposal. The tax would be completely gone by 2018. He also will produce $1 billion in property tax cuts.

With Gov. Rick Scott looking to reorganize the state government, House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, announced on Thursday that he was creating a new House committee to tackle the issue.

Cannon sent out a memo to all members of the House on Thursday announcing the formation of the Select Committee on Government Reorganization.

The 2011 legislative session is an opportunity for transformational change, insisted Cannon. We should thoughtfully and systematically pursue true reform and avoid the temptation to make changes simply for the sake of change.

State CFO Jeff Atwater named Thomas Kirwin as deputy CFO on Thursday, overseeing law enforcement efforts in the Department of Financial Services -- and to handle the CFOs attempts to crack down on insurance fraud.

Atwater named Kirwin, who served as an assistant U.S. attorney, to lead the Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations, the Division of Insurance Fraud and the Office of Fiscal Integrity.

John McCain, elder statesman?

Politico is reporting that the U.S. senator from Arizona is keeping on the sidelines during the 2012 Republican presidential race and will not back any of the candidates as the race begins. McCain is in an odd spot. Not only is he the GOPs last presidential nominee but his running mate, former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, is a possible candidate.

Attorney General Pam Bondi stressed the urgency of Florida's "pill mill" problem Thursday, emphasizing the need for new rules that would help law-enforcement officers combat doctors who prescribe powerful painkillers to otherwise healthy patients.

Gov. Rick Scott is giving glimpses into how he plans to cut the state budget by $5 billion, which is more than $1 billion above what is needed to make up the shortfall currently projected.

Link to video here

Freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Webster reviewed his first month in Congress on Thursday.

Having served as speaker of the Florida House and majority leader of the state Senate, Webster mightbe new to Congress but he is no stranger to politics. He defeated Democrat U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson in November in one of the most watched congressional races in the nation.