On the last day of session, the House tackled a health-care measure passed by the Senate which included an amendment requiring that most pregnant women considering an abortion have an ultrasound in the first trimester. The House passed the amendment 72-46, almost mirroring party lines.

Both pro-life and pro-choice advocates maintain that ultrasounds are one of the chief reasons that abortions are on the decline in Florida, with 2009 seeing the lowest number of abortions since 1997.

Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene jumped into the U.S. Senate race on Friday--making an exciting election contest even more dramatic.

On Thursday, the second to last day of the legislative session, proceedings slowed down in the House as members waited for the Senate to pass bills. House Democrats, outnumbered 76 to 44, also played a hand.

A day after former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre did the same thing, former North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns on Thursday morning filed the necessary paperwork in Tallahassee for his Democratic primary campaign for U.S. Senate.

With Gov. Charlie Crist leaving the Republican Party on Thursday to continue his campaign for the U.S. Senate as an independent, he can find little comfort in Florida history:

Former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre has filed paperwork in Tallahassee for his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the U.S Senate election.

While the Ferre campaign has raised $130,000, including $20,000 from a loan, the campaign had less than $3,500 cash on hand at the end of the first quarter of 2010. This is a fraction of the funds that Ferres chief rival for the Democratic nomination, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, has raised. Meek had more than $3.7 million cash on hand at the end of the same period.

The Florida Senate discussed adding another proposed amendment on redistricting to the November ballot on Wednesday -- with Amendment 7 looking to join Amendments 5 and 6 to face the voters judgment.

With the House passing a similar measure Monday, senators from both parties fought to have a proposed amendment mandating the state follow federal guidelines during redistricting at both the congressional and state levels.

The House sprinted toward the end of the legislative session Wednesday, tackling almost 120 legislative items in an lengthy meeting that extended through most of the day.

The House will be set to vote on the budget after 2:59 p.m. Friday in accordance with the mandate that there need to be at least 72 hours between the publication of the budget and the final vote on it.

An event in front of the Capitol to honor Florida Fitness Day ended suddenly Wednesday when an 11-year-old boy fainted in front of the podium.

Though the child was all right, the situation was tense. Besides fainting and hitting his head on the pavement, he lay on the ground for several minutes.

During the House session Tuesday afternoon, staffers placed copies of the 2010-11 budget on representatives desks -- unveiling a state budget that rose from $66.5 billion last year to almost $70.4 billion, an increase of more than 5 percent.

At more than 400 pages long, the final agreement in the Legislature cost Florida taxpayers more than any budget in the states history -- and more than any of the three initial budgetary proposals.