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2016-17 state budget - page 2

Rick Scott signs budget, officially issues $256 million in spending vetoes

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Republican Gov. Rick Scott made it official Thursday night, formally signing the $82.3 million budget presented to him today by state lawmakers. He also made official his list of line-item vetoes announced Tuesday, excising some $256 million in member-sponsored funding from the budget he today enacted into law. “I will be signing this budget into law as soon as the Florida Legislature delivers it to me and withholding approval for approximately $256.1 million in projects that do not provide a significant return on…

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Rick Scott says he will veto more than $250 million from state budget

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Florida Gov. Rick Scott took a pre-emptive strike Tuesday, saying he plans to veto more than $250 million in projects when lawmakers send him the fiscal 2016-17 budget. The move comes just days after the Legislature voted overwhelmingly — 40-0 in the Senate and 119-1 in the House — to approve the $82.3 billion spending plan. The proposal hasn’t officially been sent to Scott for his signature and vetoes. “I will be signing this budget into law as soon as the…

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Florida poised to approve a nearly $82.3 billion budget

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Putting behind a year’s worth of rancor, the Florida Legislature on Friday will approve a more than $82.3 billion budget that includes a slight boost in money for schools but also rejects many of Gov. Rick Scott‘s main priorities. Just a few months ago the Republican-controlled Legislature was rushing to pass a budget to avoid a state government shutdown. This time the House and Senate put together a spending plan for this year that increases the state budget by roughly…

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Free & charitable clinics: Thanks for the funding, please don’t veto it

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When the Legislature’s final budget hit the desk Tuesday afternoon, it included a line item containing $10 million to fund free and charitable clinics for underserved and uninsured Floridians. Around the same time, the Florida Association of Free and Charitable Clinics issued a statement expressing their gratitude, along with a heartfelt request: please, Gov. Rick Scott, allow us to actually use those funds instead of sending it to the cutting room floor. “By funding free and charitable clinics, the Florida House and Senate…

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Lawmakers close out budget with $123 million in new, sprinkle projects

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The Budget Conference Chairs held their final meeting Monday night, finalizing all remaining differences between House and Senate proposals and approving “supplemental funding issues” paid for with money from what is informally known as the “bill pot” or more informally still as — sprinkle money. Chair Rep. Richard Corcoran and Vice Chair Sen. Tom Lee wrote into the budget a mixture of fixes for projects unintentionally not funded until now and last-minute items favored by legislative leadership, though too controversial to make it in otherwise. An…

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Funds for police radios nixed in budget conference? Not so fast

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Multiple outlets reported over the weekend that budget conferees effectively killed a line item to “refresh” the state’s inventory of law enforcement radios furnished by the Brevard County vendor Harris Corporation. The issue has been the subject of what Senate budget chief Tom Lee called a “vendor fist fight” between Harris – which holds a lucrative 20-year state contract set to expire in 2021 – and Motorola Solutions, another major radio equipment vendor looking to take the contract over via a planned competitive bidding…

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Budget writers settle up on school construction funding

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A key budget committee met for the second time on Sunday and hashed out previously unresolved conflicts on education funding, including some $700 million in cash and bonding for construction for K-12 and higher education institutions. The inclusion of money from bonds is something Gov. Rick Scott – a budget hawk who loathes debt – opposes.  But Conference Committee Chair Rep. Richard Corcoran said it just makes sense. “Any time you have rates that are this low, you’re getting money for much cheaper, ”…

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