The House Select Policy Council on Strategic & Economic Planning met Thursday to tackle redistricting at both the congressional and state levels. It also released its My Florida Census site, which will help the federal government count as many residents of the state as possible.

We found 18 streets in Osceola County that the census did not account for, said Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park. The areas of concern are areas of new construction.

Glad we're getting down to business.

Senators started session at least 20 minutes late this morning and spent 5 minutes regaling allwith tales from their softball game last night. Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Delray Beach, is apparently quite the baserunner.

"He reminded me of the days of Bob Hayes," said Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee.

And Senators broiught their professional competitiveness to the field

"Sen. Negron taught us what it's like to not hit a homerun," Lawson said.

The lobby of the Capitol has been draped in childrens artwork as Florida celebrates Childrens Week. Some of it apparently strayed over toward the governors office. Next to the portrait of Lawton Chiles, therewas a pair of hands, cut out and colored. Written on them was, These hands are for Gov. Chiles + Debbie Withers. Having focused on education and childrens programs like Florida Healthy Start during his two terms in office, it was a fitting tribute to Chiles, one of the truly legendary figures in Florida politics.

The Governors Inn, a historic hotel in downtown Tallahassee, held a re-opening tonight and honored four living former governors by naming rooms after them. With Gov. Charlie Crist and former Gov. Bob Martinez in attendance, the inn unveiled rooms in honor of Martinez, Reubin Askew, Bob Graham and Claude Kirk.

This was a home away from home, said Martinez, as he reflected on his years as mayor of Tampa and his many trips coming to Tallahassee since 1993, when his service in George H. W. Bushs administration ended.

Tomorrow, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum will make the first series of recommendations regarding his economic and job creation agenda for Florida.

Entitled Real Solutions. New Jobs: A Roadmap for Floridas Future," the annoucement will take place at 1:30 p.m. at the University of Tampa. The event is open to the media, so anyone with credentials can feel free to pop in and get the details live.

Despite the concern of several lawmakers, the Senate Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committe confirmed Wednesdaytwo new members of the FloridaPublic Service Commission, the quasi-judicial body that regulates stateutilities.

Naples businessman Rick Scott, best know for leading Conservatives for Patients' Rights, declared his candidacy for governor this afternoon. Scott will be running as a Republican despite the fact that Attorney General Bill McCollum and Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, are already in the race.

After a weak last quarter of 2009, when his campaign to be the state's commissioner of agriculture brought in slightly more than $24,000, Scott Maddox, best known for his service as Tallahassee mayor and Florida Democratic Party chairman, brought in over $130,000 in cash and $2,500 through in-kind donations for the first quarter of 2010.

Fundraising figures for the first quarter for the state CFO race reveal that Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, has a huge advantage over his opponents.

During the first quarter, Atwater raised over $446,000 in cash and pulled in $126,000 through in-kind donations. Former state representative Loranne Ausley, the favorite in the Democratic field, raised $190,000 in cash for the quarter and posted in-kind donations in the amount of $70,000. Rep.

Is there anyone in Jacksonville who is not running for mayor? Today, in a bit of a surprise, Alvin Brown, a former staffer in the Clinton administration, announced he is running for mayor of Jacksonville. While Brown has not run for anything since a failed bid to knock off U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown in 1994, he has been very active on the First Coast, most recently working at Jacksonville University. With a large crowd of Republicans battling for the GOP nod, Brown will have only one opponent in the Democratic field, City Councilwoman Glorious Johnson.