Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnams light energy package retained a spark of life Thursday as a bill was advanced, after some last-minute tweaking, to the Senate floor despite the powerful Budget Committee chairman still having questions about the plan.

While it's considered a more realistic proposal than prior energy efforts that have failed to advance through the Legislature or have seen little implementation due to overambitious aims, Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales said he wanted to give the complicated bill, SB 2094, more time to be worked on.

A number of Senate Republicans, including Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, have been working to derail legislation aimed at meeting Gov. Rick Scotts call to shrink Citizens Property Insurance.

A vote on the bill was postponed for the third consecutive day on Thursday.

Still, Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said an end could be in sight.

I believe the votes are there to pass it but it is very tight, Haridopolos said, speaking to reporters Thursday.

The House and Senate are advancing separate reform packages for the states low-cost personal injury protection auto insurance that could be the last effort to reform the broken system.

The sponsor of the Senate bill says if the final reform package doesnt hold, the state may have to end the no-fault program that requires motorists to carry $10,000 worth of coverage, with insurance companies required to pay out regardless of who caused the accident.

The chances for the comprehensive but "realistic" energy package championed by Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, a topic neglected by legislators for several years, may be running out of juice as the session winds down.

Agriculture Department spokesman Sterling Ivey said that while Putnam hasnt been twisting arms to get the Legislature to approve its first energy plan since 2007, hes been meeting with members all week on the energy bill.

And he's going to keep trying.

The House gave in to the Senate on where money from higher education would come from to help advance budget talks that finally moved into the conference phase Tuesday night.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said the higher education deal shouldnt be considered a victory for either chamber, but instead an example of the two sides working to settle a complex issue.

It was very gracious of House leadership to work with us on that, Alexander said.

A bill aimed at streamlining the foreclosure process is more than just reducing the backlog of cases in the court system and rebuilding the real estate market, state Sen. Garrett Richter said Monday.

Reducing the number of abandoned homes is also a matter of safety, the Naples Republican said, noting that a Clay County detective was killed Feb. 16 while investigating a narcotics case at a home under foreclosure.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos says upcoming budget conference sessions will be fully available to the public.

Everything that is in conference as we position ourselves with our conforming bills and otherwise will be open and transparent in the next two weeks, the Merritt Island Republican told reporters Monday. I know were going to continue that tradition we followed last year.

A bill is moving through the Legislature targeting what some lawmakers described as "hired guns" -- expert witnesses testifying in court cases.

The House's 77-34 vote on HB 243 on Friday was a victory for business groups that have lobbied to place more restrictions on experts, whose testimony can be critical in civil and criminal cases that deal with complex scientific evidence.

Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, moved closer Thursday to creating an educational legacy for himself in Central Florida.

But even after success in the Senate, he still has far to go.

He will first have to convince his House counterparts to create a 12th public university in the state by making the University of South Florida-Polytechnic an independent campus after supporters of the proposal said they couldnt make long-range economic forecasts on its cost.