With Floridians due to vote on two redistricting amendments in November, a House panel met Thursday to tackle the issue at both the congressional and state levels by pushing another amendment.

The amendments already on the ballot, sponsored by Fair Districts Florida, would change how the Legislature will draw up congressional and legislative seats. They prohibit the Legislature from creating districts to benefit or hinder an incumbent or a political party and require the districts to be compact.

While the rest of the Capitol buzzed about Gov. Charlie Crist vetoing the teacher performance pay measure, the House assembled to hammer out a reform package for Medicaid and pass a number of non-controversial bills.

The afternoon session focused on a plan to reform Medicaid and proved to be surprisingly harmonious. With 2.7 million Floridians on Medicaid and that number looking to rise dramatically, members of both parties in the House worked together to set the stage for passing Medicaid reform.

When the Florida House convenes, Medicaid reform will be at the top of the agenda. There are more than 2.7 million Floridians currently participating in the program, and that number as if it will rise -- along with the price tag.

“Medicaid is not functioning and, from a fiscal standpoint, is not sustainable,” said Rep. Denise Grimsley, R-Lake Placid.

After a marathon debate that dragged into the early hours of Friday -- and increased speculation that Gov. Charlie Crist plans to veto the measure -- the House joined the Senate in passing a bill that creates a performance pay standard for Florida’s teachers.

The bill passed 64-55 at 2:26 a.m. with 11 Republicans joining all 44 Democrats in opposing it.

With the legislative session reaching its midpoint, House Democrats have filled out progress reports for how things are going.

“So far, not so good,” said Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, D-Sarasota, the Democratic Caucus Policy Chair.

Fitzgerald and incoming House minority leader Ron Saunders, D-Key West, held a news conference Monday and gave House Republicans straight “F” grades on restoring public trust, improving education, helping small businesses and pushing the interests of Floridians.

The Florida House of Representatives continued to study the benefits and drawbacks of offshore drilling for energy on Monday, even as leaders from both parties in the House the Senate cautioned there was little hope for progress during this session.