Watch for Gov. Rick Scott to charge hard at Florida's education needs when he outlines his vision for the state during his State of the State address Tuesday morning in the Capitol.
Scott, who made job creation the primary focus during his first year in office, will continue the call he made last month in his budget proposal to lower the cost of living by reducing insurance costs and improving primary and university education.
By now, it's a familiar scene: As Florida lawmakers deal with a budget shortfall, hospitals, nursing homes and other health providers scramble to fend off -- or brace for -- funding cuts.
Already, Gov. Rick Scott has proposed deep cuts in Medicaid payments to hospitals, as he tries to free up money to boost spending on public schools. And while it's too early to know whether lawmakers will go along with Scott's proposal, they are almost certain to make cuts in health and human services programs.
State Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, has submitted an amended destination gaming bill that creates a statewide gaming commission, prohibits the growing Internet cafes, and allows voters to decide if resort casinos can be opened in their county.
Bogdanoff had considered a bill prohibiting all barrel racing -- while allowing Gretna Racing to potentially keep operating -- in a draft she presented to other senators earlier this week. However, the amended version has no mention of barrel racing in any form.
The White House boasted on Friday that December's improved jobless report pointed to an economy on the rebound, but skeptics called it "smoke and mirrors."
While any decrease in overall unemployment should be watched with cautious optimism, todays jobs numbers offer troubling signs for job creators and hard-working families alike," said Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Tallahassee.
WASHINGTON -- Liberals have a rendezvous with regret. Their largest achievement is today's redistributionist government. But such government is inherently regressive: It tends to distribute power and money to the strong, including itself.
Approving gaming without fixes to workers and unemployment compensation would be a frivolity in the eyes of small-business owners.
The business owners, showing overwhelming support for Gov. Rick Scotts pro-jobs agenda over the past year, lean toward favoring the gambling bill, according to a National Federation of Independent Business/Florida poll. However, the same owners say there are bigger issues to dig into first in the upcoming legislative session.
Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts is crushing the Republican field in New Hampshire, which holds its primary on Tuesday, according to two polls released Friday.
Romney is leading in New Hampshire, according to a Suffolk University/7News poll released on Friday, while former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who was only eight votes behind Romney in Tuesday nights Iowa caucus, continues to move up in the Granite State.
Responding to buzz that President Barack Obama will seek to raise the federal debt ceiling yet again, on Friday Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio --after vaulting into national prominence during the 2010 campaign cycle and being a leading vice presidential possibility for the 2012 Republican ticket --called out the Democrat incumbent in a strongly worded letter challenging the president's competence.
Rubio sent a letter to Obama on Friday, asking about reports that the administration plans to ask Congress to raise the debt ceiling to more than $16 trillion.
