Florida could become the 24th state to collect sales tax on purchases from Amazon.com and other online and out-of-state vendors if some lawmakers and business advocates get their way.

In a Friday press conference to generate support for their stalled bills, Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Daytona Beach, and Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, urged Florida to implement the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement and reap the bounty of a vast supply of uncollected taxes.

Florida has failed to insure its residents' homes properly, and it needs to allow insurance companies to raise their rates, said a coalition of House representatives and others Thursday.

Florida received an F on a 50-state Insurance Report Card issued by the nonprofit Heartland Institute, a think tank concentrating on the free market.

Businesses hoping the state will continue to pay for certain damages sustained on projects contracted with state agencies might need to temper their expectations.

The Senate Policy Steering Committee on Ways and Means voted unanimously Thursday to absolve the state of paying certain early-termination and liquidated-damage fees on contracted projects, and cap state leases of personal property at $500,000.

The bill, which also passed its last committee unanimously, is now headed to the floor.

Lawmakers Thursday came closer to approving a deal that that would give the Seminole Tribe of Florida exclusive rights to blackjack and other Vegas-style card games at five casinos.

The Senate and House discussed but did not reach a final vote on the 20-year compact that would bring the state at least $1 billion in its first five years. The House Select Committee on Seminole Indian Compact Review moved the bill to its next stage in the morning, while the Senate concluded a second reading on the chamber floor.

Gov. Charlie Crist announced Tuesday that he wants to make reduced-cost drugs available to all Floridians.

In a press conference with Douglas Beach, secretary of the state Department for Elder Affairs, Crist said he was lifting the age and income limit for his Florida Discount Drug Card program.

To have a discount drug card available to every Floridian regardless of age is extraordinary, Crist said in a press conference.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida approved the long-debated gambling compact with the state on Wednesday -- an agreement that could bring Florida at least $1 billion, but could eventually doom some dog and horse tracks.

After eight months in his new office, Sen. Joe Negron -- chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee and a legislator who hangs with some of the upper chamber's most powerful voices -- could be in a peck of trouble in his home district as he heads into a reelection season.

Within a brief walk of the Florida Capitol, the Houses lead negotiator for a Seminole gambling compact can cast aside weighty concerns and thoughts of slot machine exclusivity and bite into a sandwich named after himself, the Galvano Tuscano Eggplant Supreme.

Florida pharmacies might need to cut their staff and operating hours if state lawmakers change the way Florida calculates Medicaid reimbursement rates for prescription medication.

The Florida Retail Federation, which represents some of the states largest pharmacies, said a House appropriations bill would cut Medicaid reimbursements by 2 percent for brand-name drugs.

To take another cut would make it hard for us to sustain our Medicaid programs, said Sally West, the Federation lobbyist concentrating on the issue.

The Florida Senate prescribed an overhaul for Medicaid as part of a unanimously passed $68.6 billion budget Wednesday.

Along party lines, senators passed an amendment that would allow residents with higher incomes to pay deductibles or supplement Medicaid with private insurance and allow the Legislature to change eligibility requirements for certain optional programs.

Its a measure that the amendments powerful Republican sponsors say will allow the state to control the terms of Medicaid spending as Florida faces roughly $19 billion in Medicaid costs.