A compromise over legislation to fight pill mills was reached late Thursday night, and a bill that will impose stricter regulations on pain clinics and greater penalties for doctors who liberally and unscrupulously prescribe powerful painkillers, which law enforcement agencies say is responsible for the overdose deaths of seven Floridians each day. The bill has passed through the Senate and now heads to the House, where it is expected to pass before going to Gov. Rick Scott. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who helped to craft the compromise, was on hand for the 39-0 vote.

A revamp of Florida's Medicaid program is closer to becoming law after the state Senate passed a reform package that moves Medicaid recipients into managed-care plans. The bill now heads to the House, which is expected to pass it on the final day of the legislative session and send it to Gov. Rick Scott's desk. Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, who moved the bill through the Senate, touted the final work product that is believed to help institute cost-controls on a program that is taking up nearly 30 percent of the state budget.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Friday that while there were an additional 244,000 nonfarm payroll jobs (and 268,000 new jobs in the private sector) added to the economy in April, the national unemployment rate rose from 8.8 percent in March to 9.0 percent in April.

Fox News will no longer put up with the waffle of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Sen. Rick Santorum. The conservative network has terminated their contracts. Both contributors were given until May 1 to decide whether they will run for president and no announcement has been forthcoming.

A package reforming Medicaid looks ready to pass on the final day of the legislative session as the Florida Senate prepped a compromise with the House that includes less provider service networks than the House originally wanted. Overall, the plan still moves Medicaid recipients into managed-care providers in an effort to reduce costs. Lawmakers have targeted the program for reform since it takes up nearly 30 percent of the budget at a time when legislators are taking on cuts to education and other services to fill a $3.8 billion budget hole.

A bill preventing address changes at polling places on the day of an election, reducing the shelf-life for citizen-driven petitions for constitutional amendments from four years to two years, requiring third party voter registration groups to submit applications they gather within 48 hours, setting up a committee to determine the date of the 2012 presidential preference primary and reducing the amount of days for early voting has passed the Florida Senate. It will now head back to the House, which passed a different version last month.

Associated Industries of Florida reiterated its support for SunRail Thursday, calling on Gov. Rick Scott to green-light the Central Florida commuter line. Citing the project's "enormous return on investment in terms of job creation and economic development through construction," AIF said the proposed 61-mile line would "diversify and strengthen Florida's economy." Plans call for the state to purchase rail corridors from CSX Transportation for $432 million.The project carries an initial price tag of $1.2 billion.

Who are the big movers on the new, just-out-Thursday Fortune 500 list? Unfortunately, there are no Florida-based companies in the Top 10. Here's a rundown: 1. Exxon Mobil. Walmart's $421 billion in revenue beat out Exxon Mobil's paltry $354 billion, but the oil giant killed Big W where it matters most: profits. Apparently the crude colossus made a whopping $30.4 billion in profits last year. 2. AT&T. The runner-up managed to haul in $19.86 billion in profit with only -- only! -- $124 billion in revenue.

Stuart Rothenberg released his latest look at 2012 U.S. Senate races -- and maintains that Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida is slightly favored for the moment to win a third term. The Rothenberg Report gives the race -- which has already drawn some strong Republican challengers -- a tossup/tilt Democratic ranking

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly surged last week to their highest level since last summer. Initial unemployment claims increased by 43,000 to a seasonally adjusted 474,000 in the week ended April 30, the Labor Department said. The prior week's figure was revised to 431,000 from an originally reported 429,000. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast claims would fall by 19,000 in the latest week. The level of 474,000 was the highest since the week ending Aug. 14, 2010.

Is it a surprise to anyone that most voters see Donald Trump as an amusement for the media? And that they don't take him seriously as a presidential contender, and more and more, they plain don't like him? It's true, says a new Rasmussen Reports national phone survey. Poll results find that just 15 percent of Likely U.S. Voters think the Donald is seriously running for president and 61 percent believe the maybe-billionaire and reality TV star is after publicity only. Not entirely sure: 24 percent.

Two abortion bills have cleared the Florida Senate and will now head to Gov. Rick Scott's desk for his signature. Bills requiring abortion seekers to undergo an ultrasound and imposing greater safeguards to ensure parental notification for minors seeking abortions passed the upper chamber Thursday, but not before Republican Sen. Evelyn Lynn of Ormond Beach berated her colleagues for taking their focus off of the dismal economy.

Gov. Rick Scott and Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll will attend the National Day of Prayer Worship Service at noon Thursday in the Capitol Courtyard. It is estimated that more than 2 million people attended more than 30,000 National Day of Prayer observances organized by approximately 40,000 volunteers in 2010. At state capitols like ours in Tallahassee, at county courthouses, on the steps of city halls, and in schools, businesses, churches and homes, people stop their activities and gather for prayer.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan came out swinging at Pakistan on Wednesday, calling for putting a hold on American taxpayer dollars going to aid that country until its government can prove they had no idea that Osama bin Laden was hiding in a compound in that nation.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West offered the following speech on Thursday on the National Day of Prayer: