@Mdixon55

State GOP chairman Lenny Curry has left his post as chairman of the Duval GOP so he can focus on state and congressional races.

In a special election Monday night, the state party elected Rick Hartley to serve as the new chairman. Hartley had served as state committeeman, a role Curry will now fill.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida shoppers this August will get to buy computers without having to pay sales taxes.

Gov. Rick Scott on Monday signed into law a bill reauthorizing the state's popular back-to-school sales tax holiday. This year's sales tax holiday will take place from Aug. 2 to Aug. 4.

The Republican Party of Florida is pouncing on a statement from Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown after Gov. Rick Scott vetoed one of his top priorities.

Brown said Scott failed "to support youths in Jacksonville" when he axed $500,000 for the Learn2Earn from the state budget. Scott Monday signed the state budget after making $368 million in budget vetoes.  

Legislation to limit dog-tethering in Jacksonville took a step forward in a City Council committee Monday, once the city’s animal care chief assured he wouldn’t fine dog owners without some warning.

The council’s Rules Committee approved the bill with the agreement that a provision once marked to take effect in 2015 would instead start Oct. 1, 2014.

“All the southern states except for West Virginia have a constitutional ban against same-sex marriage, which requires an amendment to repeal the previous one,” writes Harry Enten. 

Gov. Rick Scott spread the pain.

As Scott signed a $74.1 billion state budget Monday, he used his line-item veto power to eliminate proposals that ranged from spending $14 million on a building project at Gulf Coast State College in the Panhandle to earmarking $20,000 for the Hialeah Junior Fire Academy in South Florida, reports Jim Saunders of the News Service of Florida.

Pinellas County real estate prospects are certainly looking up for 2013, at least according to local realtors. However, there seem to be a few small clouds in an otherwise sunny view.

Senate President Don Gaetz and House Speaker Will Weatherford will begin their joint Work Plan Florida Regional Tour on Wednesday, highlighting the successful completion of their legislative agenda on jobs as well as “critical investments in Florida’s future appropriated through the bi-partisan 2013-14 state budget.”

In the increasing furor over the use of Red Light Cameras, a disturbing trend is beginning to emerge.

Several municipal and local governments were discovered shortening the length of yellow lights after installing “traffic infraction detectors,” or Red Light Cameras. This alteration resulted in the length of yellow lights being set below federal guidelines.

Kevin Cate: age 29, but “49 in campaign years”; Tennessee native; Tallahassee resident; Auburn and Florida State graduate. He entered politics to “make a change. At the time, it was mainly the war in Iraq.”

Lawmakers, lobbyists and lookers-on chimed in Monday after Gov. Rick Scott signed the state’s $74.1 billion spending plan for the coming year. Some applauded the governor for making historic investments in education, ports and business development. Others, smarting after Scott vetoed $368 million in spending projects endorsed by the Legislature, were none too happy. 

Here’s a roundup of some of the comments:

Lucy Morgan, who seems to be as good as retiring from journalism as Michael Jordan was from basketball, offered this story of lobbyist Mac Stipanovich’s week of babysitting his five grandchildren.

Tim Baker has been called a ‘full-spectrum warrior’ by those that know him best because of his blend of ruthless campaign strategy/tactics, communications and policy acumen, as well as his ability to infuse an encyclopedic knowledge of election law in everything he does, explains Brian Hughes.

@Mdixon55

Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown is blasting Gov. Rick Scott's veto of $500,000 for Learn2Earn, one of his priority projects.

"The Governor and his team have once again let down hundreds of Jacksonville children and families," read a statement from Brown's office.

One of Tampa Bays’ “100 Top Places to Work” is getting a new home in St. Petersburg.

American Strategic Insurance (ASI) officially unveils its 110,000-square-foot corporate headquarters Tuesday with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 3 p.m. The new three-story headquarters is located at One ASI Way, a newly named street off Gandy Boulevard and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard North.