The Senate closed down at 6 p.m., while the House was still going, which means they denied the House the ceremonial hankie drop (which hasn't been done since the days of Johnnie Byrd.) But President Ken Pruitt and a handful of Senate Republicans showed their good will by joining House members in the rotunda, after the House concluded.

Speaker Marco Rubio stood under a big sign that said "LARGEST TAX CUT IN FLORIDA'S HISTORY." But it was the most subdued post-session "celebration" in recent memory.

Gov Charlie Crist joined lawmakers as they basked in talk about giving Floridians a record tax cut. Political leaders dismissed talk that a built-in opposition network of teachers, firefighters, sheriffs, cities, counties and like-minded voters is enough to deny the homestead exemption issue a 60-percent majority.

A Miami TV reporter asked Rubio if it bothered him that the session ended without the traditional hankie drop.

"Nah. We were trying to drop rocks," Rubio said, borrowing a Crist cliche.

-- STEVE BOUSQUET