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Justice budget writers wrap up conference talks, agree on “99%” of priorities

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The conference committee charged with writing the state’s budget for courts and law enforcement met the final time Monday for budget year 2016-17 on Monday. House and Senate leaders said they worked to compromise on “99 percent” of the budget, leaving aside just a handful unresolved of line items and proviso language. Conference Committee on Justice/Criminal and Civil Justice Chairman Rep. Larry Metz and the House accepted the Senate position on dozens of items while Vice Chairman Sen. Joe Negron did the same.…

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Budget writers nearing deal on courts, legal funding

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House and Senate justice budget writers appear within striking range of a deal to reconcile their proposals, which sat at $3.5 million apart after two meetings on Saturday, one-10th of 1 percent over the overall budget. As of Sunday afternoon the gap was narrowed to about $441,939 in general revenue, though the way the money is appropriated still differs slightly. Budget writers closed out differences on nearly a dozen line items including funding for public defenders and other state-provided defense…

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Justice budget writers closing out differences; House, Senate $3.5 million apart

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Legislative budget writers moved the needle during their second conference meeting Saturday night, narrowing the discrepancies between House and Senate proposals to just $3.5 million dollars, about 0.1 percent of the $4.1 billion proposed criminal and civil justice budget. This time it was the Senate’s turn to make an offer, and committee Vice Chairman Sen. Joe Negron took the House’s position on a number of priorities and modified its position on several others. The Senate amended its proposal to mirror the House’s…

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Justice budgets growing closer together, but $10 million in differences remain

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The conference committee on the state justice budget appeared to be going smoothly Saturday afternoon, with the House accepting the Senate position on more than two dozen line items, but making divergent offers on many others. In all the differences totaled nearly $10 million, about $5 million of that in recurring general revenue dollars and some $5 million in non-recurring funds The House and Senate offers remained separated by more than $2 million for on a trial court technology comprehensive plan…

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House tees up bill to stop “sanctuary” cities

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The House advanced a controversial proposal designed to stop Florida cities and counties from shielding undocumented immigrants from federal immigration laws. HB 675 by Rep. Larry Metz would create potential penalties and fines for local governments that don’t comply with detainers from the Immigration and Customs Service, or otherwise fail to act when they suspect illegal aliens are intentionally harbored in Florida. Metz said the bill means municipalities simply must follow federal law, though Democratic opponents peppered Metz with questions about the existence of…

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Activists want Bob Buckhorn to oppose immigration bill proposed in Tallahassee

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Immigration activists concerned about state legislation they say targets them held events throughout Florida on Wednesday, including in Tampa. Groups going under the name “We Are Florida” are criticizing several bills percolating in Tallahassee this  Session, none more so than House Bill  675. Sponsored by Yamaha Republican Larry Metz, it would  penalize cities, counties and sheriffs in Florida that don’t fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities. “It’s going to create fear,” said Nancy Palacios, an organizer with the group Faith in Florida. “It’s…

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Broad ethics bill unanimously passes first House stop

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After a handful of amendments, an omnibus ethics bill unanimously passed the House Government Operations Subcommittee Tuesday afternoon. LobbyTools reports that HB 593 will create a host of new mandates and requirements to help fraud and waste in state government The strike-all amendment approved by the committee was similar to the original bill, only adding text contained in another anti-corruption proposal (HB 7071) sponsored by Rep. Ritch Workman. Yalaha Republican Larry Metz, who filed HB 593, agreed that he would drop that…

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