State Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Palatka, says that Republican gubernatorial candidate Ricks Scott would ban abortion in Florida and is a strong anti-choice

Gov. Rick Scott on Friday vetoed a bill that would have allowed for the placement of exotic animals (like zebras and rhinoceros) on public lands. H.B. 1117, known as the Conservation of Wildlife bill, was lambasted by environmental groups that argued it would supplant threatened and iconic Florida species with exotic animals.

Sen. Marco Rubio's recent proposal to offer a conservative-Republican alternative to the DREAM Act continues to draw criticism from media outlets that say it could result in a half-measure that produces only a different sort of legal limbo for immigrants.

False. That's how PoliFact ruled today when it examined Gov. Rick Scott's assertion that the Affordable Care Act of 2010 is a job killer.

After debate over Fourth Amendment infringements, tight budgets and collective bargaining rights, a House budget committee today passed a bill allowing state agencies to randomly drug test their employees.

A Tuesday rally in Miami brought out activists upset with the federal government's Secure Communities immigration enforcement program, as well as residents who say they've seen firsthand why Secure Communities doesn't work.

Asked if Florida should pass an immigration-enforcement law like Georgia's recently approved H.B. 87, Gov. Rick Scott says the federal government needs to do its job: Secure the border, implement a national immigration policy and create a work visa program that actually works.

In 2010, U.S. Reps. Cliff Stearns, Sandy Adams and Dennis Ross — all Republicans, all from Florida — signed a pledge to Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee to use impeachment if necessary to force President Obama to secure the nation's borders. At least one is sticking by that pledge.

Florida is joining other states moving to start drug-testing people who seek cash assistance from the government, an effort supporters say will discourage drug use among the poor. Two studies, however, show that roughly 90 percent of welfare applicants tested in similar programs around the country pass the screening.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., spoke at the Brookings Institution Wednesday, discussing foreign policy and American leadership around the world and in the western hemisphere.

In response to Gov. Rick Scott's line item veto stripping funding for 30 rape crisis centers around the state, a Tampa Bay center issued an open invitation to Scott yesterday.

Two Florida restaurant companies will have to pay back wages to almost 150 workers, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division announced Monday.

A group of four state lawmakers has joined a lawsuit asking the state Supreme Court to overturn a law requiring utility customers to pay in advance for new nuclear plants, even if they're never built.

This year's state budget will leave the Florida Legislature and be en route to the governor's desk this week.

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, today announced that he will launch a campaign for the Florida House. He will be seeking the newly created House District 36 seat, which encompasses large portions of western Pasco County.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, told Florida students Friday she is very proud to be associated with Invisible Children, the organization that earlier this year launched the widely disseminated social media campaign to capture Uganda's Joseph Kony, wanted for war crimes.

The House version of a GOP-sponsored bill that would prohibit Florida cities and counties from passing ordinances that crack down on wage theft, the practice of stiffing workers out of money they are owed, will appear Wednesday in a Judiciary committee session.

The environmental law firm Earthjustice today announced that it has filed a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue the U.S. Forest Service to protect imperiled manatees and shortnose sturgeon, two species the firm alleges are blocked from migrating in the Ocklawaha River because of a dam operated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

A coalition of Florida environmental groups is speaking out against a new bill introduced by Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Panama City, that would, he says, empower Florida officials, rather than bureaucrats at the EPA to implement water pollution standards.

In an op-ed for South Florida Sun Sentinel, state Sen. Nan Rich, D-Sunrise, writes that the GOP-led Legislature is yet again focusing on curbing women's rights, instead of easing the pain of the state's economic woes.

A group of environmentalists — including the Sierra Club and the St. Johns Riverkeeper — announced today that they have filed a legal challenge to a set of water pollution standards drafted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Citizens for National Security, a Boca Raton-based nonprofit, will file a lawsuit against Gov. Rick Scott, the state and the Florida Department of Education tomorrow. According to the complaint (.pdf) released on the group's website, the suit seeks temporary and permanent injunctive relief rescinding Senate Bill 2120, which requires two state or national experts to review textbook selections.

Gov. Rick Scott quietly signed a handful of bills Friday, including a scaled-back set of income tax cuts and a rulemaking bill that clears up some discrepancies in last year's House Bill 1565, which requires legislative approval for certain new regulations. He also threw down another substantive veto, striking a blow for openness for an administration that has been criticized for its closed and secretive approach to governance.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is scheduled to hold a briefing Friday on bullying and “peer-to-peer” violence in K-12 public schools. Specifically, the commission will concentrate on students targeted due to their race, national origin, religion, disability, gender or LGBT status and on what the appropriate federal response should be, with a focus on student needs, programs and the enforcement efforts of the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice.