After 10 Glorious Years, Sunshine State News and I Are Passing the Baton

Attorney General Bill McCollum just announced that his gubernatorial campaign has reeled in $1.4 million during the first quarter of 2010. This is the same amount that he raised in the last quarter of 2009. This means that McCollum has now raised $4.7 million for his campaign.

Dodgertown, the former spring-training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is primed to see its biggest crowd in years. Marco Rubio is coming to Vero Beach. The Indian River County Tea Party has lined up the GOP gubernatorial candidate as keynote speaker for its Tax Day rally on April 16. The free event runs from noon to 1 p.m. Plan on arriving early. Last year's rally, held in front of the county administration building, drew more than 2,000 people. Organizers in the staunchly Republican county are expecting bigger attendance numbers in this election year.

The House passed a 3 day sales tax holiday running from August 13 until August 15 without opposition. During that time, books, clothes, shoes and bookbags under $50 and school supplies under $10 would be exempt from sales tax. We have record unemployment, record foreclosures, record drops in property prices and record deficits, said Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, who introduced the bill. The people of Florida need tax relief and they need it now.

Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, addressed more than 30 realtors from Marion and Alachua Counties in the House chamber early this afternoon, and he addressed a number of issues. Cretul offered an assessment of future challenges, reminding the audience that the end of the federal stimulus funding would leave a $5 billion hole in the Florida budget. Asked about the impact of the federal health-care legislation passed last month, Cretul said that the new law would cost Floridians $1.5 billion a year initially before leveling to $1 billion thereafter.