Facing the possibility of a $3.5 billion budget shortfall, some state senators see the state employee pension plan as ripe for the plucking.

Having just weathered pre-winter, sub-freezing temperatures, Florida's farms and groves are bracing for another cold encounter next week.

Florida senators and state officials Thursday took up where so many of their litigious-minded colleagues left off earlier in the week, taking the federal Environmental Protection Agency to task over its water quality standards. Those standards are set to be finalized in August 2012.

The newly appointed chair of the Senates ethics committee hinted Thursday that proposals to give the Florida Ethics Commission some muscle may stand a chance this year, after being brushed aside the past few years.

With the newly elected Republican governors of Ohio and Wisconsin rejecting federal funds for high-speed rail projects, the Sunshine State looks to gain, as both Democrats and Republicans in the Florida congressional delegation are happy about the additional money.

A national Hispanic group blasted the lame-duck Congress' passage of the DREAM Act, saying Democrats "loaded it with enough unsavory provisions to show that they are either not serious or are using a false commitment to Latinos to score political points."

U.S. Rep. John Mica was selected by his fellow Republicans in Congress to chair the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure -- giving a Floridian the gavel over the powerful committee overseeing highways, aviation, rail, maritime shipping, public buildings and the Coast Guard, amongst other tasks.

Florida Republican leaders firing more shots at teacher tenure are getting some front-line ammunition from a St. Lucie County mother whose son was "voted out" of his kindergarten class.

Business leaders at the Port of Miami say Gov.-elect Rick Scott may be able to help them get the money they need for a project to dredge the port's southern channel.

A pilot program to prevent foreclosures in Lee County will get a statewide rollout in February, pending federal approval, state officials said Wednesday.