Rick Scott’s $65.9 billion proposed budget drew reviews Tuesday ranging from tepid to downright mean as legislative committees dominated by fellow Republicans got their first look at the new governor’s first spending proposal.

Tampa will be hosting the 2012 Republican National Convention, and that fact hasn't escaped a bevy of potential presidential candidates who are eyeing the Sunshine State two years ahead of time.

Business and tourism advocates see the new Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando that lets children sleep in the company of little mermaid Ariel and lion king Simba as a sign the region is making an economic recovery.

The 1,984-unit Art of Animation Resort, which Disney announced it was moving forward with Wednesday, is Disney’s first new resort in roughly seven years, and it could boost area businesses and push others to consider investing in the hospitality industry.

Commercial truckers want the ability to haul heavier loads over county and local roads, and they're hoping a measure that obliges them will speed through the Legislature in its last week.

State lawamkers Monday took a step toward allowing businesses to ask parents to sign a liability waiver before a child sets foot on a climbing wall, puts on a scuba tank or engages in other injury-prone activities.

Using the new Florida chapter of his national PAC, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and may again in 2012, sent an e-mail to supporters in the Sunshine State Friday afternoon, encouraging them to back candidates in Tuesday’s primary elections.

The campaign trail took a number of prominent politicians to South Florida on Tuesday. U.S. Senate candidates Gov. Charlie Crist and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek spoke to the Florida Sheriff's Association 2010 Annual Summer Conference in Fort Lauderdale. So did Republican gubernatorial primary candidate Rick Scott. Meek later spoke to the United Democratic Club of Century Village in West Palm Beach …

The TEA Party of Florida squares off against 33 local tea parties and individual Floridians in federal district court in West Palm Beach Wednesday.

The TEA Party, which was sued by rival tea organizations for co-opting the name, seeks dismissal of the lawsuit.