Following up on last year’s attempt to overhaul how teachers are paid, the chairman of the Senate’s education policy committee filed a measure Monday that would partially base teacher salary increases on student test scores.

Deeper budget cuts may be needed to satisfy Wall Street, a top senator said Thursday, as a decade of heavy borrowing is forcing a call for higher budget reserves, which now loom as a driver of lawmakers’ spending decisions.

While the RNC met in Washington Friday to determine who would be its next leader and the RPOF convenes this weekend in Orlando to determine who will replace outgoing chairman Sen. John Thrasher of Jacksonville, former Gov. Jeb Bush kicked off the Hispanic Action Network to help the GOP reach out to those voters.

Florida GOP Raises $7.7 Million in Homestretch; Maryland Firm 'Gets to Work' on Inaugural
The Florida Republican Party raised $7.7 million the last two months of 2010, including the homestretch of an election season in which the GOP claimed the governor's office, swept the Cabinet and made gains in the state House, Senate and in the congressional delegation.

As the battle to become the next chairman of the Republican Party of Florida enters its final week, candidates angling for the post continue to unveil endorsements.

As Rick Scott takes the reins of Florida government, some longtime political players find themselves marginalized or cut out of the decision-making loop altogether.

On March 4, 1829, the newly inaugurated President Andrew Jackson held an open house event at the White House -- leading to a mob of around 20,000 celebrating his election and running “Old Hickory” out of his new home. While open house events at the White House ended during Grover Cleveland’s first term, newly inaugurated Florida governors continue to hold open houses in the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee.

Besides outgoing Gov. Charlie Crist, there were three former governors attending Rick Scott’s inauguration as the state’s 45th governor: Claude Kirk, who was elected in 1966; Bob Martinez, who won office in 1986; and Jeb Bush, who was elected in 1998 and 2002.

Gov.-elect Rick Scott spent Sunday night at the Governor’s Mansion, up early enough to walk his dog Reagan, a yellow labrador, around the grounds. Reagan was obtained from a shelter during the campaign.

The jockeying continues to see who will be the next chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Former RPOF Chairman Tom Slade endorsed former Rep. Dave Bitner this week, praising the current Jefferson County RPOF committeeman for his commitment to conservative values.

With 2010 almost ready to be counted out, one of the year’s top Florida stories – Republican Rick Scott’s election – will turn a new page, morphing into one of the New Year’s first major political events.