Senate budget chief Joe Negron also chairs his chamber's Select Committee on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He was the Senate's budget vice chair for the last two years and had held the top budget spot in the House. It's all readying the Stuart Republican for his anticipated run at the Senate presidency for 2015-16.

WASHINGTON -- Before Ronald Reagan traveled the 16 blocks to the White House after his first inaugural address, the White House curator had, at the new president's instruction, hung in the Cabinet room a portrait of Calvin Coolidge.

About 28 percent of hotel bookings are made through online travel agencies like Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, and Priceline.com, by lodgers looking to snag a deal. But if 17 counties have their way, Floridas travelers might soon be paying higher taxes on those rentals.

Schools will be required to have as many lockdown drills during the year as they do evacuation drills, under a bill, Senate Bill, 790, filed by Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg.

On the heels of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting in December, the School Emergency Procedures is intended to prepare students, teachers, and support personnel for potentially dangerous situations at their schools.

The goal is to enact straightforward solutions that can be implemented now to increase safety for our students Brandes stated in a release.

House members on Tuesday questioned a need for more transparency to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest and companies using inside connections as Enterprise Florida seeks to grow.

On Tuesday, members of the House Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee offered their support for performance-based incentives and the desire to compete for business against other states, as the Orlando-based Enterprise Florida is seeking to increase economic incentives from $111 million to $278 million.