Ahead of the U.S. Senate’s procedural vote to consider the Montenegro Treaty, Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., spoke on the Senate floor on Monday  and urged his colleagues to support the accession of Montenegro to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Last week, Rubio met with Montenegrin Foreign Minister Srdjan Darmanovic and reiterated his support for the country to join NATO, which will help counter Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. Rubio’s remarks are below:

As a conservative who holds governments accountable for a living, I support Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala’s announcement to suspend the death penalty’s use. Our political beliefs may differ, but when it comes to capital punishment, the State Attorney and I are in perfect alignment.

A Florida couple lost their successful franchise business after a large international corporation abruptly shut them down in 2011. After investing tens of thousands of dollars into their franchise business and becoming one of the most successful in the Tampa area, the couple was stripped of their business and left with no recourse against the giant international corporation.

The Florida Legislature is continuing to grapple with the issue of implementing Amendment 2 on medical marijuana.

This month marks seven long and daunting years since Obamacare was signed into the law. 

The attempt by House Speaker Paul Ryan and other powerful Republicans to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act (ACA or “Obamacare”) has run into a buzz saw of opposition from both sides. Most proponents of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) concede that the Act is “not perfect.” But there is “political reality” to consider—what can make it through the congressional sausage-making machine? Already Congress is telling us the most important consideration for them: staying in power.

Florida’s current Agency for Healthcare Administrations (AHCA) rules state managed care plans can limit the number of pharmacies allowed to participate in their Medicaid Managed Care networks based on meeting the federal Medicare network adequacy standards. ACHA adopted these standards, which only require plans to have one pharmacy within a 30-minute travel time for patients in urban areas and a 60-minute travel time for patients in rural areas.

An ironic thing happened on the way to the Democratic nomination for governor for Tallahassee’s “ceremonial” Mayor Andrew Gillum.

As Leslie Wimes said the other day in her column, another Democrat got tripped up on an email issue.

And once again, it’s a self-inflicted error.

As a result, a complaint has been filed with 2nd Judicial Circuit State Attorney Jack Campbell, who has asked that new Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil investigate the charge.

Thanks to the efforts of Governor Rick Scott and the state’s committed business leaders,‭ ‬Florida has one of the strongest economies in the country.‭ ‬With our unemployment rate under‭ ‬5‭ ‬percent,‭   ‬Florida continues to exceed the nation’s annual job growth rate and tourism,‭ ‬one of the state’s economic drivers remains strong,‭ ‬with just under‭ ‬113‭ ‬million visitors in‭ ‬2016,‭ ‬an increase from just‭ ‬86‭ ‬million‭ ‬visitors just three years ago.