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Joe Negron starts edging toward the exit

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Senate President Joe Negron said Friday that the Senate was waiting to vote on two bills and then would retire for the evening. Those bills, he said, were the joint resolution extending the session past its midnight expiration time, into Monday, so the House and Senate could debate an $83 billion compromise budget and conforming bills. The other was SB436, by Sen. Dennis Baxley, to allow students to express religious beliefs in class assignments, profess faith via clothing and jewelry…

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Conference committees complete work on budget conforming bills

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The House and Senate staged one last conference committee Friday, agreeing on budget conforming bills containing sweeping policy changes, on public schools, higher education, economic incentives programs and more. House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Senate President Joe Negron did the honors personally, leading delegations to a committee room to present and consider offers on the conforming bills. The $83 billion state budget landed on members desks in the House and Senate at 2:43 p.m., allowing them three days to study…

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Against criticism by governor, Joe Negron makes the case for budget deal

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Faced with the prospect of a gubernatorial budget veto, Senate President Joe Negron said Wednesday that he hopes it doesn’t come to that. “I hope the governor doesn’t veto the budget, because I think it’s a strong budget. He certainly has every right to look at particular items,” Negron told reporters following the day’s Senate session. Scott noted earlier in the day that he has the authority to veto the $83 billion budget in whole or in part, although he…

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Joe Negron acknowledges the Legislative Session will enter extra innings

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Senate President Joe Negron conceded the obvious Tuesday night: The House and Senate won’t wrap up budget negotiations in time to adjourn as scheduled on Friday. “You know the timetable as well as I do, with the 72-hour requirement. So we will definitely not complete the budget work prior to the end of Friday, and so we’ll continue to work diligently,” Negron told reporters after the Senate recessed for the evening. “We made a lot of progress today in a…

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Joe Negron’s signature Lake Okeechobee project headed to governor’s desk

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The Senate voted Tuesday to send a trimmed-down version of SB 10, Senate President Joe Negron’s Lake Okeechobee restoration plan, to Gov. Rick Scott. The 33-0 vote followed approval by the House earlier in the day. Under amendments adopted in the House, and accepted in the Senate, bonding authority to acquire land and construct reservoirs would shrink from $1.2 billion to $800 million, bill sponsor Rob Bradley explained. The complete price tag for the project is $1.5 billion. The project…

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Opioid-crackdown bill picks up potentially deadly amendment in Senate

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The Senate adopted an amendment Tuesday easing mandatory-minimum prison sentences in a bill cracking down on trafficking in synthetic opioids, including fentanyl and carfentanil. Senate President Joe Negron ruled that Sen. Randolph Bracy’s amendment had passed on a voice vote, following an impassioned debate touching on the drugs’ dangers and the damage minimum-mandatory sentencing has done to communities. The amended legislation awaits a final vote. “Man, this was one of my noncontroversial bills that I filed this session,” Senate sponsor…

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Joe Negron sees ‘good progress’ toward budget deal as session enters final week

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Senate President Joe Negron held out hope Monday evening that he and House Speaker Richard Corcoran could resolve lingering disagreements about the state budget in time to present a bill Tuesday and adjourn as scheduled on Friday. “I know there was some real good progress made today on a number of issues, particularly in the environmental budget. If we work diligently through the rest of the afternoon and evening, I’m still optimistic that we can get it done,” Negron told…

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