House Speaker Marco Rubio, working from Miami today, dialed in to a conference call arranged by the Republican Party of Florida.
The mission: promote his proposed constitutional amendment swapping sales taxes for property taxes.
Rubio told invited lobbyists, elected officials, tax reformists and GOP donors details of his plan, as well as put in a plug for the party's new website on the same issue.
The site: www.nomorepropertytax.com.

Draped in the U.S. flag, it features Rubio along with a petition for visitors to fill out urging lawmakers to put the amendment on the ballot.
Rubio's proposal, to be vetted by the House next week, argues for elimination of the property tax on owner-occuped homes. In its place, sales taxes would be raised to 8.5 cents to replace funding for local governments and schools.
It is a myth, the web site contends, that Florida would then have the highest state sales tax rate in the nation. Actually, it would, but if you also add income taxes, then Florida falls to the bottom of the list, the website states.

The adjutant general of Florida's National Guard has two prayers.
You can easily guess one.
"We're getting our chaplains to work," said Major Gen. Douglas Burnett, as he breezed through the Capitol on Thursday.
They're under his orders to pray for no hurricanes.
Burnett's second prayer?
"Keep Castro alive a little bit longer."

Allstate Floridian promises policyholders a 14 percent cut in their
premiums thanks to expansion of the state's hurricane catastrophe fund.
That amounts to $53 million back in the pockets of consumers.
They may not keep it for long.
Allstate contends its rates still are not adequate in Florida, and
that in September, when it is required to file for the "true" savings
actually realized, it will likely seek a rate hike "to reflect our
actual current rate need." That includes a "reasonable return for profit."
Thanks to a mild year, Allstate Floridian collected $289 million more
in premiums from Floridian in 2006 than it incurred in new claims.

Florida's bachelor governor can stop looking for a First Lady.
He found one Monday night in his neighbor.
Charlie Crist met Monday night with 95 year-old Mary Call Collins,
the widow of former Gov. LeRoy Collins, and her two daughters. They live
across the street from the Governor's Mansion at The Grove, the family's
historic homestead.
"I told her there is no First Lady right now," Crist said. "She said,
'Yes governor, I know that.
Crist continued... "So if you don't mind, I'll consider you to be the
First Lady of Florida. And her daughters, they have this great wit, they
said, 'Oh Momma, I think he just proposed to you.' "
The retelling of that tale Tuesday prompted newspaper columnist and
Collins historian Martin Dyckman to note one of the Collins daughters is
unmarried.
"Well," Crist chuckled, "hope springs eternal."

Are current rate cuts offered by Florida insurance companies deep
enough to please Insurance Consumer Advocate Bob Milligan?
"No, they're not," he said Tuesday.
Just one week into the job, Milligan said he and his staff are
studying the new rates being filed daily as insurers deliver the rate
cuts promised in January by the Legislature. At the same time, he's also
scrutinizing new computer models insurers use to set rates.
"It's never too early. It's a little too early for me, I'm still
learning, but I have people on staff who are on top of that, and we are
involved in the filings," he said.
The former state comptroller is not ready to say if he'll challenge
any of those filings.
"I'd rather defer on that," he said.

The "On Your Side" people, Nationwide Insurance Company of Florida,
is making its case today before a panel of three lawyers on why it
should be allowed to raise premiums more than 71 percent.
Regulators have refused since July to allow the steep hike,
contending that it spells too much profit for Nationwide and its agents.
Nationwide's main case: the company claims it has lost $300 million
in Florida since the state-only subsidiary began insuring homes in 2000,
and even with the hike, it argues, it's policies would still be cheaper
than State Farm.
Like State Farm, much of the hike is to cover the cost of backup
coverage that Nationwide Insurance Co. of Florida bought -- for the
first time -- from its parent company.
There are new faces at the table for this week's arbitration
hearings. On your side, if you're a policyholder, the state's insurance
consumer advocate has been allowed to intervene in the case. Actuary
Steve Alexander will present his own actuarial analysis showing
Nationwide deserves no more than a 19 percent hike.
Nationwide, meanwhile, has told regulators it is dropping one out of 10 Florida customers -- some 25,000 policyholders. The insurer says it will offer those that remain only a 4.5 percent reduction in trade for the state's current catastrophe fund expansion.