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Gary Fineout has 257 articles published.

State workers unlikely to get pay raise this year

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The Florida Senate budget chairman says state workers are unlikely to get an across-the-board pay raise this year. Sen. Tom Lee said Wednesday there isn’t enough money this year to offer pay raises to all state employees, although Lee said there’s a chance that select state workers may get a raise. Last year, legislators proposed targeted pay raises to firefighters and some highway patrol troopers. Legislators are wrapping up work on a new state budget. They need to finish negotiations by early…

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Another win for bill that would allow slots across Florida

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With time running out, Florida legislators are still pushing ahead with a major gambling bill that would allow slot machines across much of the state. For the first time in six years, a gambling bill has gotten traction in the Republican-controlled House, which has rejected past attempts to bring new casinos to South Florida. The legislation would approve a proposed deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that would allow the tribe to add craps and roulette at their existing…

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Legislature divided over budget and tax cuts; what now?

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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 last year, they conceded that it will require some major compromises to end the session by March 11. The final decision on the state budget…

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Rick Scott remains mum on how to fix state’s death penalty

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With Florida’s death penalty law in limbo due to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Emily Cope on Wednesday described in chilling detail how her father, Keith, was hog-tied and left for dead back in 2009 when she was a teenager. Cope recalled how her father suffered a stroke while he was left bound with rope and duct tape for days and then later died. She pleaded with state legislators to reject a proposal to require that juries unanimously recommend the…

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Here’s where sh*t stands on gambling legislation in Florida House

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Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature on Tuesday finally took up legislation that would allow the Seminole Tribe of Florida to add craps and roulette at its casinos. A divided House panel voted in favor of a bill that would ratify a deal between the state and the tribe that would guarantee $3 billion to Florida over a seven-year period. The same committee also approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would require voter approval for any future gambling expansion. But it remains uncertain…

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Despite problems charter schools could get more state money

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Setting up a potential tug-of-war over millions in taxpayer money, the Florida House is rushing ahead with a plan that would force school districts across the state to share local property taxes with charter schools. Some legislators are pushing to steer more money to charter schools even though a recent analysis by The Associated Press found that as much as $70 million has gone to charter schools that eventually closed. Republican lawmakers contend that it’s time for charter schools, which…

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Legislators promise to keep death penalty, fix law

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Saying it’s time to put the “death penalty” debate to rest, the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature began taking its first steps Wednesday to find a way to preserve executions in the state. State senators spent hours with prosecutors, former judges, and defenders to come up with a way to respond to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. The nation’s highest court earlier this month found that Florida’s death penalty procedure is flawed because it allows judges — not juries — to…

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