BY: LAURA FIGUEROA

Nine sessions as a legislator, two years as House speaker, ''100 ideas'' pursued, and it's all coming down to just two weeks for Marco Rubio to accomplish some of his final priorities in the Legislature.

Among Rubio's top issues in the waning days of the session: getting his counterparts in the Senate to pass a series of bills aimed at social programs for disadvantaged youths.

''There's no pressure,'' Rubio said. ``I don't see any reasons for them not to support it.''

Creation of a Magic City Children's Zone in Liberty City is one of Rubio's priorities. Though the proposal, modeled after the successful Harlem Children's Zone, passed the House this week, it still awaits a vote in the Senate. Last year, the zone proposal, which would organize educational programs for disadvantaged families, died in the Senate.

This year the measure may have a fighting chance in that chamber, after Rubio and sponsor Rep. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, a Miami Democrat, expanded the bill to include the creation of zones in Jacksonville and Orlando.

Another priority on Rubio's list is making permanent the Council on the Status of Black Men and Boys. Established by the Legislature in 2006, the 19-member council is tasked with promoting educational initiatives for black youths, but under state law it is set to disband in 2012.

A proposal carried by Rep. Marcelo Llorente, a Miami Republican, and Sen. Frederica Wilson, a Miami Democrat, would remove the deadline -- making the council permanent.

''This is an opportunity for Florida to take the lead in dealing with such a vulnerable section of our population,'' said Rep. Perry Thurston, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill.

''This can be used as a model across the country to take a look at things that actually work,'' Thurston said. ``To address the crisis facing our youth. We're like a chain; when there is a weak part of the chain, the chain itself is weak.''

While the Llorente-Wilson measure was approved by the House, it has one more committee stop before it reaches a vote on the Senate floor.

Rounding out the list of child-related priorities is gaining Senate support for a juvenile justice bill sponsored by Rep. Mitch Needelman, a Melbourne Republican.

Needelman's bill -- a compilation of recommendations from a state task force convened by Gov. Charlie Crist -- would among other things create programs to decrease the ''disproportionate'' number of minority youth in jail.

The criminal justice bill has passed the House, but still has one more committee stop before making the full Senate.

''This is all something we have accomplished by working together from both sides of the aisle,'' Needelman said.

The House will take up another Rubio priority on Friday: a measure to require the Board of Education to rewrite the state's curriculum standards to better prepare students for the global economy.

''These are all issues that go to the core of what we think public service should be all about,'' Rubio said.