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Staff ReportsApril 10, 2017

Pending an appeal of a court order blocking a $700 million Florida Lottery contract, proviso language in the proposed House budget would appear to block officials from attempting to enforce its terms. The language within the budget bill, HB 5100 (see page 329) pertains to a $26.6 million appropriation to operate game terminals. It would […]

Michael MolineApril 5, 2017

If House leaders really oppose special interests they’ll support the Lake Okeechobee plan the Senate Appropriations Committee approved Wednesday, chairman Jack Latvala said following the vote. “When you hear their stated objections that they’ve made publicly, it’s always had to do with losing jobs or the amount of bonding involved,” Latvala told reporters. “We’ve pretty […]

Michael MolineApril 5, 2017

Senate President Joe Negron’s ambitious water-quality plan survived a more-than-two-hour hearing before the Appropriations Committee Wednesday, clearing the panel against only two dissents. The $1.5 billion bill would begin planning to build reservoirs and water treatment facilities south of Lake Okeechobee in hopes of avoiding repeats of June’s disastrous algae bloom in South Florida waterways. The […]

Michael MolineApril 5, 2017

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The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a proposed $83.2 billion state budget Wednesday after its chairman agreed to study a proposal to shift $1.3 million from Orlando State Attorney Aramis Ayala’s office. Sen. Randolph Bracy withdrew his amendment to restore the money after Jack Latvala said he would work on a possible floor amendment. “Let us work […]

Michael MolineApril 3, 2017

Representatives of hospitals that invest heavily in physician training and care for the indigent held a news conference Monday to protest plans in the Legislature to slash Medicaid re-imbursement rates. The cuts would undermine the state’s investments in training doctors, alliance members argued outside the Senate Office Building in Tallahassee. Under the Graduate Medical Education […]

Michael MolineApril 3, 2017

The Florida House’s proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning on July 1 could make life uncomfortable for the state’s colleges and universities. The budget — agreed upon in principle, and due in bill form this week — will call for something like $2.2 billion in spending cuts, according to House leaders, for a total expenditure […]

Michael MolineMarch 31, 2017

Sen. Anitere Flores has built a health care budget around $600 in federal money for indigent care that she concedes might never arrive. “If it doesn’t happen, look, we’ll have to reassess the situation,” Flores said this week during a hearing before the Subcommittee on Health and Human Services. “This is just the Senate’s version. […]

Michael MolineMarch 30, 2017

State spending would shrink significantly under the budget being prepared in the Florida House, with much of the savings coming at the expense of projects sought by House members. “The next fiscal year, we go from a $1.2 billion deficit to an almost $1.1 billion surplus. In the year after, we go from a $1.8 […]

Peter SchorschMarch 29, 2017

Short take: Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam is shocked — shocked — that the House flatlined funding for his department’s Rural and Family Lands Protection Program. He also was gobsmacked over what he called a “political assault” on Fresh From Florida. “Gutting the Fresh From Florida program will hurt Florida’s small farms the most, their ability to raise awareness […]

Michael MolineMarch 28, 2017

The House public education budget would be extra kind to charter schools next year, pumping $200 million into charters specifically targeting children stuck in persistently low-performing classrooms. The money would provide grants to “charter school networks with a proven track record of serving specifically low-income students and successfully closing the achievement gap,” said Manny Diaz […]

Tag: 2017-18 state budget

House budget language would undermine Florida Lottery contract

Jack Latvala argues revised Lake Okeechobee project defangs its critics

Joe Negron’s Lake Okeechobee plan clears Senate Appropriations Committee

Committee OKs Senate budget that contains Aramis Ayala money shift, for now

Safety net hospitals decry Medicaid spending cuts planned for Florida

Higher education projects fail House’s strict new budget test

Anitere Flores bets on Washington intervention in Florida’s health care budget

$81.2 billion House budget aims the meat-ax at member projects

On so-called funding cuts, Adam Putnam doth protest too much

House budget would add ‘emergency’ $200 million for charter schools