He would have to compromise. Once again, the state Senate worked the clock and gave the young lawmaker a last-minute, take-it-or-leave-it offer -- this time involving kids with autism -- that gave him far less than he wanted.
''I am disappointed we have not been able to achieve our goals,'' Rubio said.
The pride-swallowing decision was symbolic of Rubio's two-year term as the first Cuban-American speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, who over his tenure got mixed results.
The 36-year-old from West Miami came into office pushing his ''100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future'' initiative -- replete with statewide ''idea-raisers.'' Aides say about 60 percent of them passed, such as a ''children's zone'' in Liberty City to increase graduation rates.
His much-touted Idea 2, ''World Class Curriculum'' standards for public schools, passed this year. But a bad economy and a no-tax-increase ideology led him and Senate fellow Republican President Ken Pruitt to preside over a record cut to all public education of $2.3 billon, including more $120 million to Miami-Dade and Broward schools.
And he pushed for massive tax cuts by trying to swap some property taxes with sales taxes, then settled on a smaller tax-cut plan he deeply disliked but felt forced to accept offered by Pruitt and Gov. Charlie Crist after three extraordinary lawmaking sessions.
Rubio's dogged, aggressive and self-admitted ambitious style caused some rough feelings in the Senate and Tallahassee. But polls suggest it helped him at home.
''He was bold as he had promised he would be,'' said Rep. Juan Zapata, a Miami Republican. ``He allowed the House to do its job. Unfortunately, this process deals with two chambers. It's like a bird, if only one wing is moving, it's not going to fly.''
And Republicans like Sen. Carey Baker of Eustis say Rubio's ''pressure and leadership'' was the key reason the Legislature passed property-tax cuts valued in the billions over five years.
''There's a lot of pressure here for keeping things as they are, that property tax was a local issue, that we shouldn't get involved,'' Baker said. ``But it became a state issue. It was affecting our economy. And Speaker Rubio provided that spark, that push that forced us all to address it. It just wouldn't have happened without his leadership.''
Rubio was often brought back to earth by forces he couldn't control: from a souring economy that sapped state revenues to a battered property insurance market to the arrests of two GOP lawmakers, including his longtime friend Ralph Arza.
Arza resigned from his House seat and was sentenced to 18 months of probation in connection with an expletive-laden and threatening phone call to a Miami Beach colleague. Before Arza quit, Democrats planned a walkout if Arza attended the historic swearing-in of Rubio.
Since then, Democrats have praised Rubio for being bipartisan and welcoming.
Zapata and other Miami-Dade lawmakers also praised Rubio for pushing to get more money to South Florida during tough times, including extra dollars to help Jackson Memorial Hospital and $80 million that went to the University of Miami last year. But at the same time, Rubio was unable to undo a controversial change to the schools funding formula that has cost Miami-Dade schools more than $100 million since 2004.
Though he opposes gambling and blocked most gambling expansion, he allowed card rooms to have expanded hours.
Rubio also used his office to help a friend by slipping in little-noticed budget language last year to help South Florida fuel distributor Max Alvarez bid on a turnpike fuel contract.
Democrats have heralded Rubio for being a bipartisan speaker while Republicans like Jacksonville Sen. Jim King, a Jacksonville Republican, say they're ``awed by Marco.''
''I wish he was a little less dogmatic on some things,'' King said, ``because I think he has all the ingredients of a governor or senator.''
Rubio put it all on display Friday in a going-away speech that many said was one of the best they had ever heard. The speech gave inspiration in a session where there was precious little of it.
The wide-ranging address was part revival, part comedy act, and part paean to his struggling parents who roughed it as poor Cubans.
He gave thanks to America for welcoming them in and issued a call to patriotism laced with the speech President John F. Kennedy planned to give but never had a chance to deliver in Dallas.
Hours later, as the end of the annual session neared, Rubio consulted with his friends and colleagues and sadly had to accept the Senate's plan to provide insurance coverage for just a few kids with autism, rather than thousands more with more serious developmental disabilities.
All he had left was a plea for others to finish what he couldn't:
''We will not forget the rest of the children,'' he said. ``Pledge to each other today . . . we will not allow this to end.''
