In throwing their support to Newt Gingrich, a group of Florida tea party leaders risk throwing away their clout and credibility, observers of the movement say.

"The Florida Tea Party Coalition With Newt" endorsed the former House speaker on Thursday, saying they would "help defeat Massachusetts Moderate Mitt Romney and then President Barack Obama."

It is clear to me and many others in the tea party movement that Newt is the Reagan conservative that America needs, said Peter Lee, founder and director of the East Side Tea Party of Orlando.

The House released Friday a proposed $69.2 billion budget for the next fiscal year, a slight increase from the current year, and matches Gov. Rick Scotts call for $1 billion in additional funding from the current year for Pre-K-12 education, but not the full amount of his call for Everglades restoration efforts.

A record 210,000 U.S. students are using public funds to attend private K-12 schools, and Florida leads the nation with more than 60,000 of them, a new study reports.

Nearly all of the children participating in the voucher-style programs come from low- or middle-income families, or are students with special needs.

Florida, a school-choice pioneer under Gov. Jeb Bush, currently awards:

House Redistricting Committee members strongly rejected last-minute remapping efforts offered by the group behind the voter-approved method to reduce political gerrymandering as new congressional and legislative lines were pushed forward on Friday.