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2016-17 state budget - page 3

Budget conferees agree on general gov’t and prison funding issues, bump state radios funds

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Senior budget writers met Sunday afternoon to continue hammering out differences in House and Senate appropriations proposals, still hundreds of millions of dollars apart. In keeping with their recent meetings since committeeĀ sub-chairs “bumped up” remaining budget issues to the at-large budget conference, ChairĀ Rep.Ā Richard CorcoranĀ and Vice Chair Sen.Ā Tom LeeĀ – their respective chambers’ appropriations chiefs – made swift progress at the hearing, though a simmering industry “fist fight” over state police radios slowed down discussions over the weekend and prevented the panel…

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Budget writers close out TED, justice budget silos

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Legislative budget writers met Friday evening to take up another pair of unreconciled budget areas – Transportation & Economic Development and Civil & Criminal Justice – and came to a final agreement, closing out millions in funding items in a multibillion dollar move when the House and Senate accepted each others’ offers. Among the most notable changes that became closer to becoming law Friday was a Conference Chair Rep.Ā Richard Corcoran-favored move to stop the Florida Department of Transportation from adding…

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Don’t cut corners on Dept. of Corrections health funding

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As the Legislature’s “big chairs” meet this weekend to try to take the 2016-17 state budget in for a landing, there are few issues more pressing and in the public eyeĀ than fixing Florida’s ailing Department of Corrections and prison system in general. The department has gained a reputation for cutting corners in a way that has put inmates – and our correctional system’s reputation – at risk. One key area of need is DOC health care, a matter of heightened…

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House and Senate close out health care, general gov’t budget silos

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In a swift 15-minute meeting Thursday night, the full bicameral Budget Conference Committee closed out all remaining differences in the chambers’ massive health care and general government budget silos, swapping tens of millions of dollars and making significant progress towards reconciling their respective $80-plus billion proposals. “We could go huddle up for 30 seconds and come back but we knew we were close, so we just thought we’d cut to the chase,” said committee Vice Chairman Sen.Ā Tom Lee, the Senate’s…

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Why are Safety Net Hospitals crying foul over $134 million in new funding?

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Itā€™s hard to criticize Floridaā€™s safety net hospitals. They are the last-resort centers that provide medicalĀ care to uninsured or under-insured people. Who could argue against doing everything possible forĀ suchĀ a deserving cause, right? But with those hospitals screaming about a proposed state funding formula, maybe we should all takeĀ a moment to catch our breath and look at the bigger picture. What weā€™ll see is that all Florida hospitals ā€“ even the for-profit institutions so easy to demonize in thisĀ kind of discussion…

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Last-minute budget move would grant Miami firm health sector monopoly

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An amendment put forward by Sen.Ā Bill GalvanoĀ wouldĀ turnĀ over the stateā€™s budget for medically complex children to one company: Miami-basedĀ Caregiver Services, Inc. The proviso language would allow the Agency for Health Care Administration to contract with aĀ provider service network offering specialty plans that cover children who are eligible for theĀ stateā€™sĀ Medicaid program. Though seemingly innocent, the amendment relies on Florida statutes that lack the competitiveĀ procurement, accountability and quality of care requirements that Floridaā€™s current MedicaidĀ managed care plans are held to, effectively allowing Caregiver…

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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.Ā Tom LeeĀ 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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