The House Appropriations Committee pondered Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed budget Thursday afternoon and began the long, difficult process of crafting a budget despite a large shortfall.

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.

The thin ranks of the House Democratic caucus convened Tuesday morning, choosing leaders to face two years of a dominant Republican majority.

The Legislature moved closer Tuesday to giving Florida’s largest investor-owned utilities the power to raise rates as they gain ground in the state’s renewable-energy sector.

Despite fears of imposing a new fee upon Florida taxpayers and putting smaller energy producers at a disadvantage, the House voted 83-34 to give the utilities the power to raise rates to fund renewable-energy projects.

A Tallahassee judge struck Amendment 7 from the fall ballot Thursday, claiming the wording was ill-presented and voters would have no idea what it would actually do.

While a number of elections across the state appear to be interesting contests that will go to the wire, more than 30 members of the Legislature can uncork the champagne and claim victory more than four months before citizens actually vote.

It appears that Floridians will vote in November on competing ballot initiatives on redistricting -- and Democrats are divided on which option is better.

More than 1.7 million Floridians signed petitions calling for changes to the ways the Legislature draws up congressional and state legislative seats.