Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Peter SchorschOctober 25, 2016

An Orlando-based nonprofit says the state’s Department of Corrections is wrongly trying to discredit a POLITICO Florida report showing that it “misled” the public about shutting down community based re-entry centers. Bridges of America, one of several outside organizations helping ex-cons and others, also said DOC “continues to fail to address that they don’t have the […]

Jim RosicaSeptember 12, 2016

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Florida is likely to basically break even next year in terms of its state budget, lawmakers heard Monday. The Joint Legislative Budget Commission met in the Capitol to hear the latest financial outlook for 2017-18: Present income and outgo estimates leave Florida with a relatively scant $7.5 million left over out of about $32.2 billion in […]

Jim RosicaAugust 11, 2016

Budget season has begun in Tallahassee with the release of financial “outlooks” that state agencies rely on to come up with their yearly budget requests. The numbers, released Thursday, give agency heads some idea of a baseline. Of course, they’re sure to ebb and flow between now and the 2017 Legislative Session. Most importantly, as LobbyTools points […]

Jim RosicaApril 13, 2016

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The vice chair of Enterprise Florida (EFI), the state’s public-private economic development agency, sounded like he was playing defense in a conference call with the group’s executive committee Wednesday. “As you read some of the newspapers, they make it sound like we’re out of business,” said Alan Becker, co-founder of South Florida’s Becker & Poliakoff law firm. […]

Ryan RayFebruary 26, 2016

House and Senate budget writers met Friday night to organize the 2016 Budget Conference process. They plan to meet through the weekend as they negotiate how to reconcile the $1 billion gulf between their spending plans as they allocate taxpayers’ money to keep Florida’s government running. Rep. Richard Corcoran, House budget chief, said after the […]

Jim RosicaFebruary 18, 2016

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House Speaker Steve Crisafulli on Thursday said the budget conference process won’t begin just yet. The Merritt Island Republican announced the news to members of this chamber in an email: From: Crisafulli, Steve Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2016 9:16 AM Subject: Conference will not begin this weekend Members: There is positive forward progress in the […]

Gary FineoutFebruary 11, 2016

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Separated by nearly $1 billion in spending and differences over everything from tax cuts to health care spending, the Florida Legislature has less than a month left in its regular session to reach a deal on a new state budget. Although Republican legislators stress they won’t have a repeat of infighting that marred their negotiations […]

Jim RosicaFebruary 10, 2016

With the half-way mark of the 60-day 2016 Legislative Session on Wednesday, the theme so far is like a line from a Frankie Valli song: “… so close/And yet so far.” Take the 2016-17 state budget, the only bill lawmakers are required to pass each year. The House came in at $79.9 billion with the Senate […]

Peter SchorschJanuary 29, 2016

The Florida House released its almost $80 billion proposed 2016-17 state budget in the wee hours of Friday morning, along with a list of all the member requests for money for projects back home. The requests — all 1,067 of them — are also posted on the House website. Appropriations Committee chair Richard Corcoran, the Land O’ Lakes Republican slated to be House Speaker […]

Gary FineoutJanuary 20, 2016

Amid an ongoing tug-of-war over tax cuts and spending, Florida legislators learned Tuesday that they are going to have less money to spend in the coming year than planned. The changes — as measured in a nearly $80 billion budget — are not significant. But the drop represents another hurdle for Gov. Rick Scott and […]

Tag: state budget

Non-profits rebut Corrections’ accusations on re-entry programs

Lawmakers get grim budget news for next year

State economists get ready for yearly budget

Enterprise Florida shouldn’t “be overlooked,” vice chair says

Budget conferees begin weekend of negotiations

Steve Crisafulli says no budget conference yet

Legislature divided over budget, tax cuts

Gut check: Legislative Session reaches midpoint

Takeaways from Tallahassee — The “budget knives come out” edition

Uh-oh: Legislators might have less money to spend this year