On the last day of the 2012 session, the Florida Senate rejected the Parent Empowerment Act, better known as the Parent Trigger Act.

The measure, SB 1718, which was introduced by Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, failed on a 20-20 vote on Friday as eight senators -- Charlie Dean, Nancy Detert, Paula Dockery, Mike Fasano, Alan Hays (who was one of the original supporters of the bill), Dennis Jones, Evelyn Lynn and Steve Oelrich -- joined a united Democratic caucus in opposition to the bill.

With the race for the Republican presidential nomination turning to Kansas, which holds its caucus on Saturday, and Alabama and Mississippi, both with primaries on Tuesday, the two leading social conservatives left in the race -- Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum -- are starting to bash each other as they both hope to emerge as the main alternative to Mitt Romney.

While Romney won six of the 10 states up for grabs this week on Super Tuesday, Santorum won in North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee and Gingrich triumphed in Georgia, a state he represented for two decades in Congress.

On Friday, last day of the legislative session, the Florida Supreme Court offered a split decision to the state Legislatures redistricting plan, ruling unanimously that the plan for the House seats passed constitutional muster but the plan for the Senate lines failed to do so.

While the court ruled 7-0 that the House districts were constitutional, five of the justices ruled against the proposed Senate map, while two -- Chief Justice Charles Canady and Justice Ricky Polston -- supported the lines the Legislature passed.

The nation's first fully accredited online Catholic school is growing in Coral Springs.

Catholic Schools K12 Virtual at St. Andrew's School is attracting students from 19 states, Belize, Venezuela and even China with low tuition costs, wide course offerings and student-teacher ratios that few brick-and-mortar campuses can match.

Faced with thin operating margins and losing enrollment, Catholic schools have been closing across the country.

Businesses would see a much smaller increase in their unemployment compensation tax because the state would take longer to pay back a loan to Washington under legislation passed Thursday by the House and sent to Gov. Rick Scott.

The tax paid by businesses for unemployment benefits was scheduled to go up to about $171 per employee, but if signed into law, the bill, HB 7027, would reduce that to about $121 per worker.

Salvaging the states supposedly low-cost auto insurance option will come down to the final day of the legislative session.

With Gov. Rick Scott increasing pressure Thursday on legislators to pass a bill that he says will reduce fraud in the personal injury protection system, House Speaker Dean Cannon told members that he doesnt expect the Senates bill will be discussed until Friday.

After a decade of legal and political fights, Florida senators gave final approval Thursday to a $10.75 million claims bill that would compensate Eric Brody for brain injuries he suffered in a 1998 car crash with a Broward County sheriff's deputy.

The House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill, SB 4, after Brody's attorney and lobbyists agreed to waive their fees -- removing the last potential obstacle in the Legislature.

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam is confident that the Legislature will, for the first time in years, pass a comprehensive energy bill.

With passage of Floridas energy bill in the Senate, were one step closer to increasing diversity in Floridas energy portfolio, expanding energy production and creating jobs for Floridians, Putnam stated after the Senate approved its version of the bill, SB 2094, on Thursday.

The bill doesnt fully link with the House version and the two chambers must reach an agreement before the session ends sometime Friday.

WASHINGTON -- It's Lucy and the football, Iran-style. After ostensibly tough talk about preventing Iran from going nuclear, the Obama administration acquiesced to yet another round of talks with the mullahs.

With Mitt Romney leading in the polls but Rick Santorum still around in the chase for the Republican presidential nomination, the two leading candidates to take on President Barack Obama exchanged fire on Thursday.