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2017-18 state budget - page 9

House budget language would undermine Florida Lottery contract

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Pending an appeal of a court order blocking a $700 million Florida Lottery contract, proviso language in the proposed House budget would appear to block officials from attempting to enforce its terms. The language within the budget bill, HB 5100 (see page 329) pertains to a $26.6 million appropriation to operate game terminals. It would forbid officials from paying a vendor to “deploy, utilize, or lease” instant-ticket or full-service vending machines The document would provide $5 million “only to pay…

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Jack Latvala argues revised Lake Okeechobee project defangs its critics

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If House leaders really oppose special interests they’ll support the Lake Okeechobee plan the Senate Appropriations Committee approved Wednesday, chairman Jack Latvala said following the vote. “When you hear their stated objections that they’ve made publicly, it’s always had to do with losing jobs or the amount of bonding involved,” Latvala told reporters. “We’ve pretty much removed those stated objections. Now it’s just going to have to come down to whether they’re going to follow the will of the special…

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Joe Negron’s Lake Okeechobee plan clears Senate Appropriations Committee

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Senate President Joe Negron’s ambitious water-quality plan survived a more-than-two-hour hearing before the Appropriations Committee Wednesday, clearing the panel against only two dissents. The $1.5 billion bill would begin planning to build reservoirs and water treatment facilities south of Lake Okeechobee in hopes of avoiding repeats of June’s disastrous algae bloom in South Florida waterways. The “No” votes came from Sens. Jeff Brandes and Denise Grimsley. “I am very grateful for the input from my colleagues, constituents and fellow citizens across…

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Committee OKs Senate budget that contains Aramis Ayala money shift, for now

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The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a proposed $83.2 billion state budget Wednesday after its chairman agreed to study a proposal to shift $1.3 million from Orlando State Attorney Aramis Ayala’s office. Sen. Randolph Bracy withdrew his amendment to restore the money after Jack Latvala said he would work on a possible floor amendment. “Let us work a little more on an approach here that’s a little bit more than all-or-nothing,” Latvia said. “I look forward to working with you to see…

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Legislative committee week cancelled

Senate President Joe Negron and House Speaker Richard Corcoran have cancelled next week’s legislative committee week because of Hurricane Irma, they

Higher education projects fail House’s strict new budget test

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The Florida House’s proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning on July 1 could make life uncomfortable for the state’s colleges and universities. The budget — agreed upon in principle, and due in bill form this week — will call for something like $2.2 billion in spending cuts, according to House leaders, for a total expenditure of $81.2 billion. Among the biggest targets — because they rank among the single most significant expenses outside entitlements like Medicaid — is member projects,…

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Anitere Flores bets on Washington intervention in Florida’s health care budget

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Sen. Anitere Flores has built a health care budget around $600 in federal money for indigent care that she concedes might never arrive. “If it doesn’t happen, look, we’ll have to reassess the situation,” Flores said this week during a hearing before the Subcommittee on Health and Human Services. “This is just the Senate’s version. There’s a whole other version that’s going on in the House,” she said. Pending negotiations with the House and Gov. Rick Scott, “I think it’s…

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House and Senate cement their differences on Visit Florida funding

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House budget writers stuck to the plan Tuesday in rolling out details of their proposed $12.3 billion for transportation and tourism. It would eliminate economic incentives programs including Enterprise Florida, and sharply reduce spending on Visit Florida. “We’re basically following the tenets of (HB) 7005, the policy bill that was passed a couple of weeks ago,” said Clay Ingram, chairman of the Transportation & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee. The committee would give $25 million to Visit Florida, rather less than the $76…

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