Waving aside objections from the Florida Bar and the ACLU, the House Judiciary Committee approved an "anti-Sharia law" bill on Wednesday.

"We're trying to anticipate problems we see in other states and address them proactively," said Rep. Larry Metz, R-Eustis, sponsor of House Bill 1209.

"This will preclude unjust results in cases where the outcome could be different if we didn't have the bill."

A "compromise" engineered by state Sen. Jack Latvala sailed through committee Wednesday and left the door open for the continued sale of Floridians' Social Security numbers.

With a brusque call by sponsoring Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, to "move this bill," SB 1208 was quickly passed by the Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability without discussion or debate.

The perennial push to funnel construction funds to charter schools is running into another brick wall of political opposition erected by school districts and a liberal advocacy group.

Though charter schools serve an expanding enrollment of more than 160,000 Florida students at nearly 500 campuses across the state, these free public schools receive little or no capital funding.

Drawn out of his current district, U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns still figures to have an advantage in his re-election run this year.

Just don't tell that to fellow Republicans trying to knock him out in the party primary.

With 12 terms in office and $2.38 million in the bank, the veteran GOP congressman has the power of incumbency and money behind him.

And though his Ocala home is now south and east of the newly designed 3rd Congressional District, nearly 70 percent of his old district remains within the new CD 3.

RELATED: Donald Trump planning to renovate historic D.C. Postal Service building

A poster child for federal government mismanagement sits in downtown Miami. Actually, there are two of them.

The Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse, at 400 N. Miami Ave., was originally intended to supplement space in the neighboring David W. Dyer Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse.

Then the overbuilding and cost overruns started.

RELATED: Miami courthouse a case study in overbuilding.

Seeking to stop the hemorrhage at Uncle Sam's real estate holdings, Rep. John Mica says a Washington, D.C., deal with Donald Trump signals a healthy start.

Mica, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, announced that Trump would bring a 250-room luxury hotel to the largely abandoned Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Sen. Jack Latvala blunted consumer-protection efforts Thursday by winning approval of an amendment to authorize the continued sale of Floridians' Social Security numbers.

But the fight is far from over, and will be rejoined Tuesday when the Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability takes up the bill again.

Senate Bill 1208 would have prohibited the state Department of Financial Services from disseminating some 3.3 million Social Security numbers to registered attorneys, CPAs and private investigators.

A large field of Republicans is vying to succeed U.S. Senate candidate Connie Mack in one of the most staunchly GOP congressional districts in Florida.

Spanning Lee County and the coastal strip of Collier County, the tentatively designated CD 19 has attracted a host of contenders, but only a handful have the name recognition and financial wherewithal to wage serious campaigns.

Of the 11 GOP candidates who have filed with the Federal Election Commission, just five listed any campaign contributions during the latest reporting period.

An abrupt about-face by the Florida Medical Association is helping to keep malpractice reform legislation alive, but at least one group of physicians is calling the move "irresponsible."

After years of staunchly opposing broader prescription authority for optometrists, the FMA has agreed to recognize their "full scope" privileges. As recently as last November, the FMA declared: "Expanding optometrists' scope of practice would be dangerous for patients."

Just as Republican Sheriff Bob Crowder abandoned Rick Scott in the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, GOP officials are distancing themselves from Crowder's primary run against U.S. Rep. Allen West.

"He's delusional," Martin County Executive Committee member Chuck Winn said of Crowder.

Winn said he expects GOP organizations in the 18th Congressional District to endorse West in the primary -- if Crowder even gets that far.

"I'd be surprised if he manages to make it beyond the May filing deadline. I don't see where he gets his support," said Winn.