Gov. Charlie Crist is expected to make a decision on whether to run for U.S. Senate after session ends May 1.

But today, he told reporters today that he was considering opening an exploratory committee.

“I haven’t really thought much about it. I’m focused on the session,” Crist said. “Others have suggested that might be a smart thing to do, but no decision has yet been made.”

Jobless Floridians will start getting an extra $25 per week in their unemployment checks, Gov. Charlie Crist announced today.

“We are at a high-water mark, if you will, as it relates to unemployment in the state – about a 16-year high,” Crist told reporters today. “It’s important to extend unemployment benefits as much as we possibly can to help people get through this tough time.”

The extra dough is part of a $345 million to unemployment benefits included in the federal stimulus package. The weekly boost will continue through next July for claims filed before December of this year.

The increase went into effect Feb. 22, and those receiving unemployment benefits at that time or later will also receive a retroactive payment without having to apply for it.

The Florida Senate voted unanimously to strike “Shylock” from state laws relating to loan-sharking.

Sen. Eleanor Sobel, a Jewish Democrat from Miami, sponsored the measure (SB 318) because the language is offensive to Jews, she said.

The term dates back to the 1596 Shakespearean play, “The Merchant of Venice,” in which Jewish money-lender Shylock demands a pound of flesh from a merchant who cannot repay a loan.

The House companion is headed to the floor.

Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will speak to Florida lawmakers about civics education next month.

The retired judge has launched a web-based civics curriculum site, ourcourts.org, aimed at seventh- and eighth-graders to teach them about the courts system.

The site features a “Talk to the Justice” component that gives kids the ability to ask O’Connor about justice-related topics.

O’Connor, appointed by the late President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court. She served for 25 years until her retirement three years ago.

O’Connor is scheduled to address the lawmakers on April 1.

Moments after he was sworn in as the newest Palm Beach County commissioner this morning, Steven Abrams invoked another unelected Republican who came to office to replace a disgraced predecessor.

Abrams, appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist after Mary McCarty resigned in a corruption scandal, referred to Gerald Ford’s famous quote upon succeeding Richard Nixon in 1974: “I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your president by your ballots. So I ask you to confirm me with your prayers.”

Our Jennifer Sorentrue reports on it here.

House Democrats reached into their transitive property bag today to paint Republican Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton as against the federal stimulus package and therefore against Gov. Charlie Crist and Florida’s families.

To do so, Democrats pulled a quote from this Post story, which, ironically, was a report about the bipartisan finger pointing in the House and the chamber’s reluctance (just like Crist) to support deep cuts or new revenues to deal with a $3 billion shortfall.

Hasner, meanwhile, defended his own honor with this press release. He insists Crist and the legislature are on the same page, and that lawmakers are just waiting for the Obama Administration to release details about the federal waiver needed to collect stimulus money for schools. Hasner writes:

“Until the Obama Administration gives their final answer on a federal waiver, the Legislature cannot accept stimulus dollars that have not been offered.”

So does this mean Republican leaders will wait to put $1 billion in stimulus money into their K-12 budget proposal until the stimulus arrives? We’ll find out this week when House lawmakers begin assembling the 2009-10 budget this week.

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U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, 42, sent out this letter to her constituents today detailing her year-long battle with breast cancer. From the letter:

I chose to manage my breast cancer and get through the last year privately, with my family and close friends around me. I also chose to wait to tell my young children until recently. After consulting with my doctors, I knew that I could get through the surgeries and procedures and make it very unlikely that I would have a recurrence. I wanted to be able to tell my children with a clear conscience that their Mommy would be okay.

This week in Washington, with a clean bill of health and cancer-free, I plan to introduce the EARLY Act, which seeks to educate young women on the risk factors for breast cancer, why certain populations are more likely to be at risk, and ways that young women can be proactive in lowering their risks. The legislation also seeks to help young women diagnosed with breast cancer deal with the issues unique to their fertility, and the social ramifications young women face.

A meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on Everglades Oversight was canceled this afternoon when several members were late arriving. The panel was supposed to hear an update on Gov. Charlie Crist’s plan to buyout U.S. Sugar, but sounds like there was going to be little news committed.

Ernie Barnett, the director of policy for the SoFla Water Management District, said after the meeting was canceled that discussions are ongoing to modify the deal, but there was little he could say about it publicly.

Florida Environmental Protection Department Secretary Mike Sole said in an interview that “not a day goes by” without him hearing from or speaking to folks at Florida Crystals, which may be looking to become a partner in the deal.

“We’re continuously looking for ways to make sure this deal works,” Sole said. “The governor’s vision has been very clear in trying to acquire as much Sugar land, as much of this property as we can to get that connection. We’ve always said – always said – that we don’t need all the acres.

“We’re working everyday to make sure this thing works.”

From left: Rep. Pete Stark photo from The Los Angeles Times; Rep. Robert Wexler

A liberal Democratic member of Congress owns a house in Maryland while using his inlaws’ address for his voter registration back home. This time it’s not U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, but U.S. Rep. Fortney H. “Pete” Stark, D-Calif.

Read about it here.

Unlike Stark, Wexler stopped claiming a tax break on his Maryland home several years before his residency became an issue.

In the first meeting in nearly three weeks for the House’s top two budget councils, chairmen Marcello Llorente and David Rivera, both Miami Republicans, read from the same script in separate meetings today to inform budget writers about the tight schedule.

They said appropriations committees (essentially budget sub-committees) will receive spending totals (known as allocations) by the end of the week and will have to approve budget details by Thursday, April 2.

Republican leaders want councils to vote on the budget before Wednesday April 8, take Thursday and Friday off for Easter and Passover and let the chamber vote on the bill April 17th.

That would leave the Senate and House about a week to iron out differences in conference committees so the respective chambers can consider the changes in time for the the scheduled last day of session, May 1.

Palm Beach County Commissioner Jess Santamaria told Post reporter Jennifer Sorentrue that he might not seek re-election in 2010.

“There is frustration on my part,” Santamaria said. “I don’t know if I am accomplishing as much as I would have wanted to as a commissioner. … I am doing my darndest to see if I can change things. I don’t know how I am succeeding in changing business as usual.”

What do you think? Should Tony Masilotti’s successor step aside?

From left: U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton; state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton

After not initially signing on and setting off a flurry of speculation on the left and right, U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, has decided to be a cosponsor of the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act. He cosponsored the legislation in the last Congress.

The legislation would allow unions to bypass secret-ballot elections and organize by collecting authorization cards from a majority of employees. Supporters say the measure allows labor to counter intimidation by employers. Foes say it will allow labor organizers to coerce and pressure workers to support unionization.

In Florida, state House Majority Leader — and potential Klein challenger — Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, is leading the drive for a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right of Floridians to cast secret ballots in all elections, including votes on whether to unionize.

Before he’s even sworn in as Palm Beach County’s latest (but not last) commission appointee, Steven Abrams has to wonder whether fellow Republicans will give him a clear shot at getting elected next year.

He’s slated to take the oath Tuesday after being tapped by Gov. Charlie Crist to replace disgraced Mary McCarty.

Democrats, who now outnumber Republicans in Abrams’ District 4, are vowing a serious 2010 challenge by former League of Women Voters prez Pamela Goodman.

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In her new role as Palm Beach County elections supervisor, former state Rep. Susan Bucher has cut $1 million from the office’s $11 million budget, learned how to design ballots and earned high marks from the Palm Beach County Voters Coalition, Post reporter Jennifer Sorentrue writes today.

“I have been watching over everybody’s shoulders,” said Bucher, who makes $134,000 a year. “I have dedicated my first year as one of learning from the bottom up. I want to understand how all of the operations work so we can make some calculated decisions for improvements.”

More here.

State lawmakers will start assembling a budget this week, but there appears to be little consensus about how to proceed, with Republicans and Democrats in the House refusing to blink in a debate over axing sales tax breaks and Gov. Charlie Crist reluctant to commit to either revenue increases or deep cuts.

More here.

Florida Insurance Consumer Advocate Sean Michael Shaw told The Palm Beach Post that lawmakers should let Citizens premiums increase by as much as needed to make the state-run insurer financially sound.

“Whatever the number is that Citizens needs to be at to be actuarially sound, that’s what I advocate,” Shaw said. (Listen here.)

A Citizens task force said that number could be as much as 30 percent statewide. CFO Alex Sink said making Citizens “actuarially sound” could mean a 60 percent jump for some homeowners along the coast, but that lawmakers should aim for less.

“We’ve got to start somewhere,” she said. “We can’t bite off the whole apple, but we’ve got to start beginning to take little bites to get Citizens more on a sound financial footing.”

With lawmakers ready to let a three-year rate freeze expire, Shaw said that he wasn’t asking legislators to cap that increase at a specific number.

He said he didn’t want anyone’s premium to increase, but that a Citizens hike was a “good thing” for homeowners with private insurance policies who are subsidizing those with policies from the state-run insurer.

The Citizens Mission Review Task Force has suggested capping increases at statewide average of 10 percent.

President Obama, in a speech this afternoon to the National Conference of State Legislatures, said state budget writers should avoid using federal money for dog parks. From the prepared speech:

Let me be clear: I don’t have anything against dog parks. What I do oppose is building them with funds from the Recovery Act – because that is not how we will jumpstart job creation and that is not how we will put our economy on a firmer footing for the future.

The White House today also released this letter from Vice President Biden to Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, asking to spread the word that stimulus dollars cannot be spent on projects “such as casinos or other gambling establishments, aquariums, zoos, golf courses, and swimming pools.”

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Word is Mark Bubriski, who led the communications effort for Barack Obama’s Florida campaign last year, has accepted a job to become director of media relations for Florida Power & Light, the electric utility serving all of South Florida and the state’s east coast.

Bubriski, who worked as communications director for the Florida Democratic Party before joining the Obama campaign, is expected to start next week at the company’s Juno Beach headquarters.

Florida motorists could be driving on darkened highways under budget-cutting proposals offered by transportation officials this morning.

State officials trotted out those savings and others in a parade of horrors presented at a Senate budget committee with the goal of cutting 20 percent from transportation and economic development spending.

The proposals included axing 70 state troopers, firing 440 Department of Transportation workers and dropping more than 14,000 children from an early learning program that pays for child care for poor workers.

Aside from laying off troopers, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles also recommended replacing license plates every 10 years instead of the current six years although that could make the plates harder to see at night.

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In a letter dated Tuesday, but just released to the media, Gov. Charlie Crist’s budget director informed state agencies that the governor’s office withhold 15 percent of general fund revenues that departments were supposed to receive for the final three months of the 2008-09 fiscal year, which ends June 30.

McDaniel said the move was “in light of the current economic climate and in an abundance of caution.”

Read the full memo here.

Reporters asked Crist about such a possibility this morning and he replied, “Not that I’ve been briefed on yet.”