Attorney General Pam Bondi turned her campaign against timeshare-resale fraud into some truly crackerjack legislation, but it hasn't gathered the accolades her pill mill bill did a year ago.

The fiscal impact to higher education still stands in the way of Florida legislators reaching a deal on a budget that should top $70 billion.

The states budget chiefs from the House and Senate will continue Monday negotiating the difference out of the fiscal plan. Efforts intensified Friday when unsettled issues were bumped up to Senate Budget Chairman J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, and House Appropriations Chairwoman Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring.

Budget negotiators sent their thorniest issues to the respective budget chairmen this weekend, as both the Senate and House lined up priorities for the expected final week of the session.

On a few issues, there was some closure this week. Lawmakers signed off on a $1.35 million compensation package for William Dillon, who was imprisoned for 27 years for a murder he didn't commit. The Senate passed that bill early in the week and sent it to Gov. Rick Scott who signed it a couple of hours later.

A proposal to shift the way the state-backed insurer pays claims is on its way to the Senate floor after being changed to lower the state's overall risk following a major storm.

Legislation that would give parents more ability to determine how to make over a failing school was rammed through a Senate committee on Saturday, a likely preview of a contentious floor fight over charter schools, unions and parental support.

By a 13-7 vote, the Senate Budget Committee on Saturday approved SB 1718, the so-called "parent trigger" bill. The most controversial element would allow parents of a failing school to dictate recovery strategies, including the use of for-profit charters, if a majority of them sign petitions to do so.

Kirk Fordham's column in the Tallahassee Democrat on Friday, "Restoration is about more than just the Everglades," is a superb example of how environmentalists in this country overreach, blow it, and end up preaching to the choir.

Few social scientists, and even fewer political scientists, have done as much to improve American life as James Q. Wilson, who died last week at age 80.

"The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. The next and most urgent counsel is to take stock of reality."

-- William F. Buckley

Florida's two biggest business lobbying groups have been mostly satisfied with the ongoing legislative session, even as a number of big ticket items have yet to be resolved and one was on the losing side of the high-profile -- and ultimately unsuccessful --attempt to bring three large casinos to South Florida.

The agendas for both the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida place both business-friendly organizations on track for another successful session.