In the latest line of attack in his battle with U.S. Rep. Tom Price of Georgia to become Republican Policy Committee chairman, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack of Florida -- fifth in line in the congressional Republican leadership -- weighed in to support extending the tax cuts initiated by then-President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003. Mack sent a memo to all his Republican colleagues explaining the need for keeping the cuts.

With incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merrit Island, naming his leadership team on Tuesday and Wednesday, Sen. Nan Rich of Weston, incoming Senate Democratic leader, announced the first selection of her team on Wednesday: Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, will serve as Democratic leader pro tempore.

More than a week after losing the gubernatorial race, state CFO Alex Sink unveiled an effort to better connect veterans in Florida to the benefits they are entitled to.

With more than 1.6 million veterans living in the Sunshine State, the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs (FDVA) has information on only 700,000 of them -- something Sink hopes will change with the new program.

A day after naming Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, as president pro tempore and Sen. Andy Gardner, R-Orlando, as majority leader, incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, named three more members of his leadership team.

Haridopolos is keeping Sen. J. D. Alexander, R-Winter Haven, with financial issues, naming him chair of the Budget Committee. Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, will handle redistricting while Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville, will lead the Rules Committee.

Having held five events over the weekend, Second Amendment advocates continue to promote changing laws in Florida to allow citizens to openly carry holstered handguns. Open carry was legal in Florida until 1987 when Janet Reno, then an assistant state attorney in South Florida, lobbied the Legislature to ban the practice save in some situations -- namely hunting, fishing and at firing ranges.

The Janet Reno open carry ban will be repealed, said Sean Caranna of Florida Open Carry.

As he continues campaigning in his bid to become U.S. House Republican Policy Committee chairman, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack called again for the repeal of new federal health-care laws which were backed by President Barack Obama.

Trying to upset U.S. Rep. Tom Price of Georgia to be the fifth in command of House Republicans, Mack forwarded a memo to his colleagues taking aim at the laws on Tuesday.

Incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, named his leadership team Tuesday, tapping Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, as president pro tempore, while Sen. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, was selected to serve as the Republican leader.

A Florida Republican offered his thoughts on the one year anniversary of the Fort Hood shootings -- U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney. Rooney, who served in the JAG corps of the U.S. Army and serves on the House Committee on Armed Services, offered his thoughts on the tragedy on Fox News.

With bedbugsa real problem in New York, outgoing Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson and state Surgeon General Dr. Anna Viamonte-Ros warned Floridians that the bugscould be a problem in the Sunshine State.

Bronson cautioned Floridians on Monday to be careful when trying to fight them and, as they come out at night and are often hard to detect, to bring in licensed contractors to fight them.

Late last week President Barack Obama appointed state DEP Secretary Mimi Drew to serve as Floridas representative on the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force -- a move that received the strong backing of Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday.