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Gary Fineout - page 19

Gary Fineout has 257 articles published.

Voters may have to decide between two solar energy amendments

in 2017/Top Headlines by

Florida voters could wind up having to choose between two rival proposals dealing with solar energy. A group billing itself as Consumers for Smart Solar announced Wednesday that it’s launching a petition drive to place an amendment dealing with solar energy on the 2016 ballot. It will need to collect nearly 700,000 signatures by early next year in order to qualify. But the amendment is aimed at trying to stop another proposal dealing with solar power. Floridians for Solar Choice…

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Seminole Tribe: We won’t close down blackjack at casinos

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The Seminole Tribe of Florida told Gov. Rick Scott and other state officials on Wednesday that it will keep blackjack and other card games in place at its casinos despite the looming end of a deal the tribe inked five years ago. After Scott and state legislators were unable to reach an accord with the tribe it appeared the Seminoles would be forced to drop the card games that have helped turn their casinos — including ones in Tampa and…

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Gov. Rick Scott signs state budget in private, averts government shutdown

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Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday ended the state’s biggest budget crisis in more than two decades by signing a more than $78 billion budget into law, but he may have created another divide with some of his fellow Republicans. Scott signed the budget just days after the Florida Legislature approved it during an unusual June special session. State government would have been partially shut down if a new budget had not been in place by July 1. But before he…

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Florida’s battle over health care likely to return in 2016

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

A bruising budget battle that divided Republicans in the Florida Legislature is over for now, but the truce is likely only to last a few months. Legislators passed a nearly $79 billion budget Friday with just days to spare. Legislators had until July 1 to pass a budget or state government would have been partially shut down. They didn’t pass a budget during their regular session because they were divided over healthcare spending. That sparked a stalemate — and finger-pointing…

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Legislature passes $78.7 billion budget in overtime

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 After a sprawling and messy budget fight that spawned lawsuits and finger-pointing, the fractured Republican-controlled Florida Legislature approved a nearly $79 billion budget and ended its special session Friday. Legislators were racing against the clock to pass the budget after they failed to pass one during their regular two-month session that ended in late April. The final vote was 37-0 in the Senate and 96-17 in the House. It followed two days of debate in which some legislators expressed frustration…

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State set to approve nearly $80 billion budget

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Following a drawn out, contentious battle that saw the state flirt with a partial government shutdown, the Florida Legislature is poised on Friday to approve a nearly $80 billion budget. The final budget is full of winners and losers. Legislators bumped up money for schools and set aside more than $400 million for tax cuts. Republican leaders were able to secure millions for hometown projects, including money to create downtown campuses for universities in both Tampa and Orlando. They also…

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Budget stalemate finally ends for Florida Legislature

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Florida’s contentious and messy budget stalemate that divided the state’s Republicans and threatened to force the shutdown of state government is finally over. With just days left, the Florida Legislature has reached a deal on a nearly $79 billion budget. The final budget was delivered to legislators late Tuesday afternoon. The budget has winners and losers in the mix as the GOP legislative leaders battled for months over healthcare spending, tax cuts and how much money should be set aside…

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