Gov. Rick Scott is calling for an additional $23 million for the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF).

On Tuesday, the Florida Retail Federation (FRF) and the Florida Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association (FPMA) announced their “legislators of the year” award winners.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida sued the state Monday, setting in motion what could be a protracted legal fight over the tribe's exclusive rights to offer "banked" card games like blackjack at most of its casinos.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Tallahassee, comes even as the Seminoles for the first time said they have made "significant progress" in negotiations with Gov. Rick Scott's office and legislative leaders toward a deal that sources close to the talks say could allow the tribe to add craps and roulette.

An effort in Tallahassee to propose congressional term limits is getting some national play as a political group showcased it on Monday. 

VOTING-RIGHTS GROUPS FIRE BACK ON CONGRESSIONAL PLAN

Voting-rights groups filed a brief Friday urging the Florida Supreme Court to approve a congressional redistricting plan recommended by a circuit judge --- and fired back at arguments made last week by attorneys for the Legislature.

Businessman Donald Trump took his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination to Jacksonville on Saturday, saying his effort was about leading America to victories again, securing the border and taking shots at some of his primary opponents. 

Nobody thought the Legislature's latest attempt at crafting new Senate districts was going to be easy.

But this week's intraparty Republican fighting at the opening of a special session --- in a year that sadly might best be characterized as the "Session That Never Ended" --- foreshadowed what could be another grim two weeks of drawing maps, chased by an equally foreboding regular session in a few months.

The contentiousness wasn't restricted to the Legislature's domain, however, even if another painful controversy did wind up inside the Capitol.

All of Florida’s state senators will have to run for reelection in 2016 as part of a new Senate map proposal passed by the Senate redistricting committee Friday. The vote was 4-3.

As he readies for events in Miami on Friday night and Jacksonville on Saturday, businessman Donald Trump named two leading Republicans as the chairs of his Florida presidential team: Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) Vice Chairman Joe Gruters and veteran GOP operative Susie Wiles. 

Former U.S. Sen. and Gov. Lincoln Chafee, D-R.I., announced on Friday he was ending his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.