TORT REFORM, MORE TAX CUTS TOP PRIORITY FOR 2006 IN TALLAHASSEE, AND MORE ON BENSE

Orlando Sentinel columnist John Kennedy mentioned Sunday that when Florida House Speaker Allan Bense and his close aides huddled in Orlando last week, it was said that tort reform and tax cuts would be at the top of the wish list for the Florida House of Representatives for next year's session.

Next year, look for the House speaker and his troops to push hard for more-sweeping lawsuit limits. They will also try again to get rid of the intangibles tax altogether, scrap taxes on alcoholic drinks and farm equipment, and try to give tax breaks to companies that work with hydrogen fuel.

Some among the gathering were still upset over the governor's personal record 37 vetos this year and cutting $180 million from the state's spending plan.

And speaking of Bense, Jeremy Wallace wrote that the speaker mentioned to him recently that he was ready to step back into public life and returning to his Panama City construction firm, GAC Contractors.

Not what Dubya and Friends call promising words from someone they reportedly have been encouraging to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democrat Bill Nelson. Bense has said that he will make a decision on wheather to run soon.