It looked for a while like the session would end without the ceremonial sine die hankie drop.

Not to worry, traditionalists.

House Speaker Larry Cretul shut down shop about two hours before his counterpart Jeff Atwater, in his final turn as President and as a senator, unhurriedly guided his chamber to a conclusion.

About 8:30 p.m., Cretul and a bipartisan contingent of House GOP leaders and Democrats entered the Senate and lined the center aisle as the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms prepared to drop the white hankies.

At 8:47 p.m., the hankies fell.

It lacked the pageantry but was a much more intimate affair than in prior years, and there was no chance that newly-non-partisan Gov. Charlie Crist could drop in out on the rotunda floor. (He couldn’t have anyway; he was en route to Miami).

“It took us a while, but we finally got the House to come around to the Senate position,” Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, joked later.

Sen. Dave Aronberg said a quick farewell to his colleagues shortly before the chamber finished up business for the year (hopefully).

Aronberg, who is running statewide for attorney general, was the youngest member of the Senate when he was elected eight years ago at age 31.

“Now I’m still youngest in the state Senate at 39 years old,” Aronberg, D-Greenacres said, adding that he is happy to pass that distinction on to the incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos.

Oops.

Actually, fellow Democrat Jeremy Ring will be the youngest senator. He won’t turn 40 until August.

“Oh no, Sen. Ring. Well you don’t look like the youngest,” Aronberg said when his mistake was pointed out.

Haridopolos turned 40 on March 15. Guess what? Another Democratic colleague of Aronberg’s Chris Smith, shares that birthday.

“It’s not goodbye because I do intend to be back here next year in another capacity,” Aronberg said.

Florida House lawmakers adjourned for the final time in their annual spring legislative session at 6:59 p.m. tonight.

Republican leaders opted to not hold a traditional closing day ceremony. Instead, some lawmaker are waiting to greet the Senate, which is still debating the budget.

The Republican majority in the House pushed the the budget, 77-43. Democrat Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, was the Democrat to join Republicans.

The Senate gave final approval to a measure pushed by the Palm Beach County Commission that would allow counties and cities to go beyond current state law in fines and jail time for county officials and staff who violate local ethics ordinances or financial disclosure requirements.

The measure now heads to Gov. Charlie Crist.

Sen. Dave Aronberg, a Greenacres Democrat running for attorney general, said he sponsored the bill (SB 1980) on behalf of county officials after “three of the seven county commissioners ended up in jail” on public corruption charges.

Under the measure, counties like Palm Beach could double the current fine from $500 to $1,000 and extend jail time from 60 days to one year for corrupt officials.

The House refused to pass a harsher public corruption measure (SB 902) pushed by Palm Beach County’s State Attorney Michael McAuliffe.

His anti-corruption proposals, sponsored by former federal prosecutor and Aronberg primary opponent Sen. Dan Gelber, would have made it a crime for any public official to knowingly withhold information about a financial interest in something on they vote or cause to take place. It would would also have required disclosure of financial interests that could benefit a family member.

Another would enhance penalties for crimes, such as official misconduct, that public officials commit in their official capacity.

It didn’t take long for Florida’s sleepy Democratic Senate primary to get interesting.

Less than seven hours after Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene thrust himself into the race, frontrunner Kendrick Meek took a shot this afternoon at Greene’s foreclosure-fueled fortune and his accusation that Meek and other candidates are career politicians while Greene has “succeeded in the real world of hard work.”

U.S. Rep. Meek, D-Miami, says Greene “profited from the misery of millions of Americans who lost their home equity, if not their homes. That’s not the kind of candidate the Democratic party needs, and it’s not the kind of senator Florida needs.”

Greene made hundreds of millions of dollars by betting the housing bubble would burst and investing in credit-default swaps. He says the sophisticated investments were “insurance, basically” to protect against losses in his real estate portfolio.

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Gov. Charlie Crist confirmed today he will drop the Republican classification from his voter registration card, something he does not have to do to run as an independent.

“If you’re going to do it, do it,” Crist told the Post.

But going without a party affiliation means he won’t get to vote in the party’s U.S. Senate primary, which includes his nemesis, former House Speaker Marco Rubio, and three other lesser-known Republicans.

Crist laughed at the suggestion that he’d want to keep his affiliation to vote in the race.

“Who’s all in it?” he said. “No, I don’t need to do that.”

Crist said his communications director, Andrea Saul, will transition off the campaign now that he’s no longer running as a Republican. Crist said he has not heard the same from his campaign manager, Erik Eikenberg, who is also expected to also leave the campaign.

Crist said he hadn’t read the statement from U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, his one-time confidante, who said today that his loyalty to the party trumps his friendship with Crist.

“It’s unfortunate,” Crist said.

We also told Crist of the quote from Mac Stipanovich, a GOP strategist who blasted LeMieux’s statement. Stipanovich told the St. Petersburg Times that, “George LeMieux is a Mount Everest of ambition shoehorned into a molehill of a man.“

“Is that what he said?” Crist said, before disappearing into his office.

Few people understand nuance better than Gov. Charlie Crist, but after four years we’ve learned that “concern” from the governor about a piece of legislation can often quickly lead to a veto.

Here’s what he told The Palm Beach Post, the only media outlet to talk with Crist about the bill so far today.

“I just saw the House passed it a few minutes ago,” Crist said. “Obviously we haven’t had a chance to review it in our office. But it gives me concern. Sure.”

Asked what about the proposal concerns him, Crist said, “I need to study it.”

Crist was equally serene when asked about the budget. Crist was the target of some choice words from lawmakers when he proposed a $69.2 billion spending plan. The final budget from lawmakers: $70.4 billion.

Crist has been asked several times about a potential veto of the budget, but has steered those questions toward his traditional action on the budget, which has been to veto specific line items and not the entire document.

He did the same today.

“I think what I need to do is let Jerry (McDaniel, Crist’s budget director) and his team look through it very thoughtfully and thoroughly,” Crist said. “Once they’ve had that opportunity, then I go ahead and begin getting briefed by him and his team. I want to be very methodical about it, you know, what’s in there what maybe shouldn’t be in there and do the right thing.”

Crist said he planned head to Pensacola this weekend to monitor the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Crist said the spill “puts the kibosh” on any more talk of expanded oil drilling in the Gulf.

“How anybody could see that and not think that not only do you need to rethink it, but certainly put all the brakes on it,” Crist said. “That’s the only right thing to do.”

Florida lawmakers gave final approval to a contentious abortion bill that would require pregnant women to have an ultrasound before an abortion after nearly four hours of at time tearful, disturbing debate.

The measure passed by a 76-44 vote and is now headed to Gov. Charlie Crist.

Only a single Republican spoke against the measure, Rep. Ed Homan, R-Temple Terrace, a physician.

Speaking against the measure, Rep. Scott Randolph gave an emotional account of his and his wife’s experience with abortion after three ultrasounds found that the fetus would die.

“The ultrasound machine’s right next to that bed where my wife is laying looking at this fetus and she’s having to cry and ask and demand that that ultrasound machine be turned in the other direction because she can’t see it anymore,” said Randolph, D-Orlando, crying freely.

“And this bill would say no, we’re going to demand that one more time, when you go in to finally terminate that pregnancy because God and fate and nature have told you that not this time, you’re not going to have the child this time, that you see that ultrasound or that you be told what’s on that screen. You can demand that it be turned away but you’re still going to have to listen to the description of what’s there,” he went on.

Randolph hammered on the Democrat’s objections that forcing the ultrasounds contradicts Republicans’ belief in smaller government.

“Six years ago this legislature wanted government so small that it could fit down a tube into an individual woman’s throat named Terri Schiavo,” Randolph said. :And this year you’re wanting government so small that it can fit between a woman’s legs and into her uterus.”

Rumors that he’s supporting indie Senate candidate Charlie Crist are “ridiculous — and completely false,” says former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who has sent a fund-raising e-mail today on behalf of Democrat Kendrick Meek’s Senate bid.

Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign manager, Internet campaign innovator Joe Trippi, has signed on with Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene’s Democratic Senate campaign.

Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency (pdf) in the Panhandle coastal counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, and Gulf because of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Crist toured the spill earlier in the week.

Read more: Officials say oil from spill could hit Fla. by Monday

Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, knocked out of office by a 2008 sex scandal but recently mulling a run for his old seat against Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, has decided not to enter the race.

Mahoney says Gov. Charlie Crist’s departure from the GOP Thursday shows the Republican Party has moved to the “radical right” and Rooney’s voting record puts him in this “radical movement”

With less than an hour until the qualifying deadline, two little-known Dems — Jim Horn of Palm City and Ed Tautiva of Wellington — have secured spots on the ballot in congressional District 16. National Democrats once entertained high hopes for the seat, but the party’s recruit, Chris Craft, ran an underwhelming campaign and dropped out in March.

Read Mahoney’s statement after the jump….

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UPDATE: The House passed the abortion ultrasound amendment after a three-hour debate with a 72-46 vote.

House Speaker Larry Cretul cut short some of the more heated debate on the controversial abortion bill passed by the Florida Senate yesterday that would require all women seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound.

Cretul stepped in when Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, likened abortion to the Holocaust.

“Everyone is aghast and embarrassed” about the Holocaust in which at least 5 million Jews were killed, Hays said.
“What are we going to say as a society about the killing of more than 50 million…,” he went on before Cretul cut him short.

“Members, I know this is a very sensitive issue and I really ask for your cooperation in keeping it within the bounds,” Cretul, R-Ocala, said.

Rep. Richard Steinberg spoke shortly after Hays.

“As a Jew in this House I am deeply disheartened” about the analogy, Steinberg, D-Miami Beach, said.

“Rep. Steinberg, we’re going to keep it within the bounds,” Cretul replied.

Earlier, Cretul gave Democrat Adam Fetterman equal treatment.

While others were surprised the abortion measure even came up, Fetterman said he was not.

“See there’s no bacon to bring back home. But you sure can bring the red meat.
This is a side of beef for some fundamentalist people. It is designed to coerce a woman to change her mind if not scare her away from the doctor’s office,” said Fetterman, D-Port St. Lucie.

Fetterman went on to say that some fundamentalists support the assassination of doctors is acceptable because they are such staunch abortion opponents.

Heck part of me is afraid to leave this chamber today without the protection of the sergeants…because of my beliefs,” Fetterman said.

“Rep. Fetterman, if you could temper your remarks just a little,” Cretul chastised.

The House is expected to vote on the measure (HB 1143) shortly.

Riviera Beach Councilwoman Billie Brooks, a lifelong Republican, says she’ll continue supporting Gov. Charlie Crist’s U.S. Senate bid despite Crist’s abandonment of the GOP to pursue an independent candidacy.

“He’s a people’s person. He’s not about partisan politics…I’m going to try to help him as much as I can,” said Brooks, who was named an honorary co-chair of Crist’s campaign in October.

Much of Crist’s local campaign leadership abandoned Crist when Crist bolted the GOP.

Holly Colson, 34, of Perry, brought her two children to the House visitor’s gallery today to surprise her uncle, Florida Rep. Ralph Poppell, R-Vero Beach, who turns 69 today, his last day as state lawmaker.

But Colson and her 7- and 5-year-old children scampered out of the gallery when she realized lawmakers were debating a controversial bill to require women pay for ultrasounds before receiving an abortion.

“I wasn’t comfortable with it,” Colson said. Colson, by the way, described herself as pro-life but doesn’t believe women should have to pay for the procedure lawmakers want to force on women.

Republican House leaders also removed the 13- and 14-year-old pages, who run errands for lawmakers during session, before the debate started.

House leaders said this morning to expect several hours worth of debate on the health care bill (SB 1143) coming over from the Senate with an amendment requiring women to have and see an ultrasound before getting an abortion.

There are 30 amendments filed to the bill.

Still, Speaker Larry Cretul said there’s a possibility to end the 2010 session, at least on the House side, by shortly after 3 p.m.

Will there be a traditional sine die? Cretul said he doesn’t know.

It’s possible the two chambers will adjourn separately, Cretul said. And what about Gov. Charlie Crist’s attendance following his announcement yesterday.

“He’s still the governor,” Cretul said.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush didn’t attend every sine die, neither did Lawton Chiles. So it’s not unprecedented for a governor, given his schedule or what he wants to tout as successes, to skip the sine die. But yesterday’s announcement makes today a little unique.

Remember when Republican Gov. Charlie Crist basked in south-county Democratic love for championing Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler’s call for paper ballots to replace electronic voting?

Some key Palm Beach County Democrats say Crist’s new independent bid for U.S. Senate could peel away Democratic votes from Dem frontrunner Kendrick Meek in the fall.

And the Democrat-oriented Public Policy Polling firm speculates that Crist, despite his Republican history, could take more votes from Meek than he does from presumptive Republican Senate nominee Marco Rubio.

“There are going to be a lot of races this year where a Republican leaning third party candidate would do Democrats a lot of good. The Florida Senate race is not going to be one of them. If Charlie Crist’s independent run has any impact on Kendrick Meek’s chances of winning it’s likely to be negative,” says a PPP blog post.

Just in case Florida’s Senate race wasn’t interesting enough, Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene plans to file papers this morning to enter the contest as a Democrat.

Greene, 55, rose from middle-class origins to make millions investing in real estate. Then he made hundreds of millions by betting that the real estate bubble would burst and investing in credit-default swaps. He’s running as an outsider, and his bio is unconventional for a politician, with cameos by Mike Tyson as best man at Greene’s 2007 wedding and Heidi Fleiss as a yearlong houseguest. (“We weren’t dating,” Greene told Forbes in a 2008 profile.)

Read about it here.

Charlie Crist was surrounded by a crowd of cheering admirers in his St. Petersburg hometown when he announced he is dropping out of the GOP U.S. Senate primary.

On the fourth floor rotunda of the Capitol, not so much.

The rotunda’s typically a raucous swirl of frenzied last-minute activity on the penultimate day of the 2010 session,

But gone was the cacophony of just moments before as Crist’s tanned visage appeared on two large-screen televisions.

Dozens of lobbyists sat, stood with their arms folded or leaned against marble pillars watching the national broadcast of the governor’s decision.

The response? Utter silence, with one exception – when Crist said “I was never one who sought elective office to demagogue or point fingers.”
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State Republican Party Chairman John Thrasher didn’t mince words about Gov. Charlie Crist’s decision to run with no party affiliation to avoid a GOP primary in the U.S. Senate race against former House Speaker Marco Rubio.

“He’s been gone a long time, in my opinion, and this just kind of makes it official,” Thrasher, a state senator from St. Augustine told reporters shortly after Crist’s announcement.

Thrasher won’t ask for his GOP registration card back, though.

“All I’m going to do is take his picture down at Republican Party headquarters. And probably put it on E-bay and see what we do,” Thrasher said.

When asked how much he thought it would bring, Thrasher said: “Questionable.”