Freshman Florida Congressman Carlos Curbelo, along with five colleagues, launched a resolution Tuesday condemning academic boycotts of Israel.

Various groups have floated academic boycotts of Israel, and the American Studies Association (ASA) adopted a boycott measure at the end of 2013. First adopted at the controversial 2001 Durban Conference -- from which Israel and the United States pulled out after it equated Zionism with racism -- enemies of Israel continue to push Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) efforts.

A new poll shows former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has a slight lead over Sen. Marco Rubio and former Gov. Jeb Bush in Florida, the largest swing state on the map in presidential elections, even as a majority of voters say she can’t be trusted. Clinton leads other Republicans by far wider margins. 

Around 11:15 p.m. Monday, as the deadline for getting a deal on the state budget drew closer, Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon, brought to order a joint House-Senate negotiating committee hammering out the final details of a spending plan.

Shortly after the meeting began, he recognized Jamie DeLoach --- the top staff member for the Senate General Government Appropriations Subcommittee --- to explain the first of several offers that would be swapped back and forth between the two sides. It was an offer on the fine print of the environmental portion of the budget.

U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., showcased his pride in federal funding for the Everglades contained in the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill passed Tuesday by the U.S. House Appropriations Committee.

Gov. Rick Scott eagerly signed into law around $430 million in tax cuts Tuesday, including reducing cell phone and TV services taxes. Scott had pushed for $470 million in cuts at the start of the regular session in March -- and in spite of the hospital-funding pull on reserves, he nearly got what he asked for. The House and the Senate passed the cuts on Monday. 

Businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump launched a bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday, swinging away at two presidential candidates from Florida who are also running for the Republican nod: former Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. 

While he flirted with running for president before, including for the Reform Party nomination in 2000 and the Republican nomination in 2012, Trump announced on Tuesday morning that he is running for the Republican presidential nomination and called for the “right people” to lead the nation. 

As another potential Democratic candidate contemplates entering the race, Democrat Eric Lynn came out swinging in recent days at U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., on trade and other economic issues -- even as they both opposed the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill in Congress. 

Lynn, a former official in President Barack Obama’s administration, opposed the White House on TPA but focused most of his fire at Jolly in an email sent out on Friday.  

House and Senate budget negotiators struck a deal on a state spending plan Monday night moments before the stroke of midnight, pouring $301 million into projects at the last minute and closing out one of the more-raucous legislative debates in recent years.

Florida's largest teachers' union will appeal a District Court judge's decision to dismiss a lawsuit against the state's Tax Credit Scholarship program. 

The suit pits the Florida Education Association of 137,000 teachers against a program which gives 70,000 students (most of whom are low-income minorities) scholarships to attend private schools around the state. 

Leon County Circuit Court Judge George Reynolds dismissed the lawsuit last month, deciding the FEA and other plaintiffs didn't have standing to pursue legal action against the program. 

Former Gov. Jeb Bush announced on Monday, at an event at Miami-Dade College, that he is running for president, but the former Florida governor is also running against history -- and not just because a political dynasty has never produced three presidents. Bush and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., are hoping a Floridian can win the biggest prize in American politics.