Willie Meggs, Cecil Pearce and Ray Sansom

Florida Gov. Rick Scott this week found his policies on the receiving end of numerous challenges as the governor's calls for less government, privatization and less red tape wound their way through the courts.

Meanwhile, the governor's quest to bring 700,000 jobs to the state was made both easier and more difficult depending on which economic data you choose to hang your hat on. While unemployment remained uncomfortably high, brisker home sales, slow but steadily increasing state revenue collections and government-backed efforts show the state's economic engine is at least engaged.

BUSY WEEK IN THE COURTS:

It was a hectic week in legal circles. The Florida Supreme Court early this week ruled that Scott overstepped his legal bounds when he put a hold on proposed agency rules until they could be reviewed by the governor's office.

Scott, who in his first act as governor suspended agencies' ability to make rules, immediately called the 5-2 opinion nonsensical, while attorneys for a blind woman who sued over the new requirement said the ruling would help preserve the ability of Florida residents to participate in the process by which new regulations that affect them are put into place.

The state's highest court said that agency rules are largely an extension of legislation, which makes Scott's action a separation of powers issue.

Chief Justice Charles Canady and Justice Ricky Polston disagreed with the majority, saying the Constitution gives the governor "supreme executive power."

"If supreme executive power means anything, it must mean that the governor can supervise and control the policymaking choices -- within the range of choices permitted by law -- of the subordinate executive branch officers who serve at his pleasure," Canady wrote in dissent.

Scott faces another challenge next month for his attempts to privatize a hefty chunk of Florida's prison system. A Tallahassee circuit judge, Jackie Fulford, this week scheduled a hearing for September on a motion for summary judgment in the Florida Police Benevolent Association's lawsuit challenging a plan to privatize several state prisons.

The PBA is challenging a Scott-backed move to privatize prisons in South Florida, an effort backers say will save millions.

Critics, including Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, are skeptical of such savings, and got information this week that might make them right – internal documents show the prison system is worried about a $25 million price tag related to corrections officers losing their jobs; payments for things like untaken vacation or sick time. Scott told reporters this week that if the savings don't materialize, the privatization won't be done, simple as that.

Meanwhile, a Florida appeals court ruled that agencies must take into account collective bargaining agreements when they look to trim employee health costs. The 2nd District Court of Appeal this week ruled that the Polk County school district couldn't bypass collective bargaining in imposing insurance changes.

JOBLESS RATE REMAINS HIGH, BUT STEADY: