Personal rivalries and Republican factional fights have sent the 2011 regular legislative session boiling over into extra time, House Minority Leader Ron Saunders, D-Key West, said.

A plan to reform the state's unemployment compensation benefits is back on track after looking dead earlier in the week. On the final day of the legislative session, an apparent deal has been struck between the House and Senate, who had previously been unable to agree on the reform package.

As the Florida Senate prepared to debate the 2011-2012 budget, its leader, Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, waltzed into the press gallery for an exchange with reporters.

He defended the current budget proposal, which came in at $69.7 billion, an $850 million cut from the current budget and a $4 billion increase from the proposal released by Gov. Rick Scott in February. Haridopolos has consistently stated his focus on cutting spending without raising taxes, and he noted that the budget includes $308 million in business and property tax cuts.