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Gov. Rick Scott signs state budget in private, averts government shutdown

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Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday ended the state’s biggest budget crisis in more than two decades by signing a more than $78 billion budget into law, but he may have created another divide with some of his fellow Republicans. Scott signed the budget just days after the Florida Legislature approved it during an unusual June special session. State government would have been partially shut down if a new budget had not been in place by July 1. But before he…

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Compromise, collaboration will get budget, health care done, group says

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Compromise and collaboration. That was the message that Dale Brill delivered at press conference held just before the start of 2015A special session. Brill–founder of the Tallahassee-based consulting group Thinkspot— said 20 days was plenty of time for the House and Senate to come together to bridge the differences the chambers have on healthcare access. Brill was joined by Jim Cameron, vice president of government relations, Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Rev. Pam McMillan, St Paul’s United Methodist Church…

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Jac Wilder VerSteeg: Unelected Supreme Court chastises House members for unelecting themselves

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Politicians who disagree with Supreme Court rulings frequently point out that the justices are “unelected.” That’s true on both the federal and state levels. Florida House Speaker Steve Crisafulli echoed that disdain with comments after a majority of Florida Supreme Court justices agreed with an opinion written by Justice Barbara Pariente, who wrote that the House, under Crisafulli’s leadership, “clearly violated the Constitution” when it adjourned three days early. That ruling came in response to a lawsuit by Democrats. Crisafulli…

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Five minutes with Ron Book: sausage making, dead bills and special session

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Lobbyist Ron Book sat, head in hand, in the Capitol rotunda Wednesday morning. He just observed the Senate grind through an agenda of bills sent over from the House before it unexpectedly adjourned the day before, only three days away from the scheduled end of session. Book has been around the Capitol for a while. His over 40-year career started by working for the House, then in the Cabinet of former Gov. Bob Graham as legislative counsel and, for a time, as acting chief of…

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Break over, Congress faces fights over Medicare, Iran, AG nomination

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Racing the calendar, Senate leaders are pushing toward congressional approval of a bipartisan compromise that reshapes how Medicare pays physicians as lawmakers return from a spring break tangled up in domestic and foreign policy disputes. Republican and Democratic senators are trying to influence an emerging nuclear deal with Iran, and there’s a fight over abortion. Also, President Barack Obama is awaiting Senate action on his long-delayed nomination of federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch to become attorney general. For Senate Democrats, the…

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House passes tax-cut package, uncertain in Senate

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Although the Florida House overwhelmingly passed a $690 million tax-cut package Thursday, it still faces an uncertain future in the Senate. While the Senate looks to plug a $2.2 billion hole in the healthcare budget, the House is focused on keeping Florida’s economy growing by cutting costs for households and businesses. “One of the best ways to have a vibrant economy is to put money back in the pocket of taxpayers. That is why we cut the cellphone and TV…

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Bill Day’s latest: Florida House’s approaching ‘LIPocalypse’

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A storm brews in the Florida House. Facing a massive budget hole — to the tune of billions of dollars — the state Senate last week released its proposed spending plan for the next fiscal year. The $80.4 billion proposal includes healthcare coverage expansion for nearly one million low-income Floridians and funding program for hospitals. The Senate move helps fill a gap left by the imminent end of the federal Low-Income Pool program, nearly $2.2 billion of additional money to hospitals and…

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