In a 5-2 decision, the Florida Supreme Court has ruled that public defender's offices can seek permission from trial courts to stop taking on new cases, if they can demonstrate that their offices are overloaded with clients and cannot provide effective representation to new ones.

Justice Peggy Quince wrote the opinion on behalf of herself and Justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, Jorge Labarga, and James E.C. Perry. Chief Justice Ricky Polston wrote a dissent that was joined by Justice Charles T. Canady.

Thanks to its zero percent personal income tax rate, lack of a death tax, and relatively few government regulations on businesses, Florida is back in the top 10 among states in terms of its economic outlook, according to a report published Thursday by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

The Florida Chamber of Commerce released its annual legislative report card Wednesday, saying the high grade-average of state legislators reflects the successes the business community had pushing its agenda through the 2013 session.

More than 200 Florida tea party groups will soon decide if they are eligible and willing to join either of at least two nationwide class-action lawsuits alleging harassment, intimidation, and discrimination by the Obama administration's IRS.

In yet another sign of the growing distance between the governor's office and the speaker of the Florida House, Rick Scott today vetoed a 3 percent state university tuition increase, telling reporters Florida's families can't afford for education costs to go up even a single percentage point.

"I worry about the cost of higher education, Scott said at a noon press conference announcing his signing ofthe Legislature's 2013-2014 Florida Families First Budget, after having vetoed nearly $370 million of what had been a $74.5 billion budget.