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Policy institute calls final state budget better than Rick Scott’s, but still lacking

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The Florida Policy Institute says the state’s new 2016 budget is better than Gov. Rick Scott’s initial proposal. The nonprofit’s report, though, says the spending plan still lacks adequate investment in health care, public education, prisons and other state services. The report praised the Legislature for killing Scott’s proposed $1 billion tax cut, saying it would just help businesses while reducing resources for urgent needs. It also criticized a tax cut for machinery and equipment the Legislature included, saying it…

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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 committee sub-chairs “bumped up” remaining budget issues to the at-large budget conference, Chair Rep. Richard Corcoran and Vice Chair Sen. Tom Lee – 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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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 eye 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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Today on Context Florida: Year of the manufacturer, Rubio’s chutzpah and pharma budgets

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Today on Context Florida: Jac VerSteeg agrees with Gov. Rick Scott’s central message: “It’s the year of the manufacturer.” But he is not attaching quite the same meaning to his words as the governor did. The governor’s intention is to extend a tax break for manufacturing equipment and put plenty of fresh dollars into an incentive pot to lure companies to Florida. But as the 2016 elections approaches, we will see candidates from the presidential election on down to the municipal…

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Jeff Brandes wants answers on ‘cruel’ driver’s license suspension regime

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State Sen. Jeff Brandes dashed off a flurry of letters to state agency heads on Tuesday asking for more details on Florida’s system of revoking and suspending drivers’ licenses — and the financial strain, even incarceration, that often comes with it. Brandes, a St. Petersburg Republican, chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, which he says will draft a new law during the upcoming Legislative Session to reform a suspension regime called “cruel” and “relentless” during the panel’s most recent meeting last week in…

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Gov. Scott orders independent analysis of Florida prisons

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Gov. Rick Scott is ordering an independent analysis of the state’s prison system and the development of two prisons to test new ways of handling and housing prisoners with mental health issues, as well as the general population. Scott issued the order Thursday. He is also directing the Department of Corrections to work with the departments of Children and Families and Juvenile Justice on how to improve mental health services. The two prototype prisons will be developed at existing facilities.…

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Governor reforms prisons with executive order

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Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order Friday cracking down on the violent culture within Florida’s prison system. The order includes provisions addressing safety, transparency and holding guards, wardens and Department of Corrections Secretary Julie Jones accountable. Newspaper investigations have detailed a series of unexplained inmates deaths, allegations of retaliation against whistle blowers and reports of guards targeting African-American inmates. Scott directed Jones to implement a series of policies including: Requiring each employee who applies physical force upon an inmate…

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