The vetoes were a sharp decrease from the $615 million in spending Scott killed last year, though he struck dozens of transportation and cultural programs and asked state universities to limit tuition increases to 5 percent.
florida budget
His Veto Pen Spilling No Hints, Gov. Rick Scott Readies to Sign Budget in St. Johns Tuesday
Only one thing is clear about what will happen Tuesday when Gov. Rick Scott signs the $70 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1: An increase in state funding for education will stand.
Florida Legislators Cut Higher Ed $300 Million Even as They Create a 12th University
House and Senate lawmakers agreed to create Florida Polytechnic University, a pet project of Sen. J.D. Alexander’s, and slash university spending by $300 million, paving the way for an on-time ending to the legislative session.
Public Pressure Works as State Funds Return to Flagler’s Disabled Adults Services
Flagler County would have lost $600,000 and 18 jobs, and disability and job-learning skills to 248 adults in the affected programs, had a Senate proposal to end funding prevailed. A public-awareness campaign led by school board member Colleen Conklin helped reverse the cuts.
Flagler School District Mobilizing Against 18 Job Cuts and Lost Services to Disabled Adults
Flagler County is in danger of losing several programs that train and help the disabled find self-sustaining jobs as the Florida Senate ends funding for those programs. The cuts would affect 248 adult in the county, including 36 students in the transition program for 18 to 22 year olds.
Florida House Approves $69.2 Billion Budget Heavy on Cuts on 79-38, Party-Line Vote
The $69.2 billion budget plows an addition $1 billion to education, but slashes other services to plug a nearly $2 billion shortfall, such as lowering the age at which the state ends a subsidy for former foster children from 23 to 21.
House Releases $69.2 Billion Budget, Including 9.5% Increase in Pre-K-12 Funding
House budget builders on Friday released their $69.2 billion spending blueprint that includes more than $1 billion in additional funding for K-12 education and more than $2.5 billion in reserves.
Florida’s Poor and Elderly Again Brace For Cuts As Legislature Prepares for Tuesday Kickoff
Gov. Rick Scott is proposing further deep cuts in Medicaid payments to hospitals, while lawmakers have filed bills that would help shield emergency-room doctors and workers from costly malpractice lawsuits.
Educators Deride Scott’s “Smiley Face” Budget, Hospitals Call It “Tax on the Sick”
Despite Scott’s proposed boost, the state would still spend about $210 million less on education under Scott’s plan than it did five years ago, with overall education funding down about $1.6 billion. Hospital advocates call proposed cuts to Medicaid a “tax on the sick.”
Gov. Scott Proposes Corporate Tax Cuts Even As Florida Faces a Deficit of Up to $2 Billion
Gov. Rick Scott wants to double the corporate income tax exemption to $50,000 and eliminate the tangible tax for half of the state’s 300,000 businesses that now pay it. It’s part of his plan to eliminate all corporate taxes ins even years.
Universities Defend Against Rick Scott’s Primitive War on Anthropologists
Not wanting tax dollars spent educating anthropologists, Rick Scott appeared unaware that the science is among the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and math) he himself is emphasizing to add jobs in Florida.
Florida Lawmakers Gloomily Expect $2 Billion Shortfall: The State Week in Review
As Florida Legislature budget committees met this week, gloom set in again. Medicaid costs are rising, schools need to find money, tax revenues are lagging. Gambling-industry lobbyists had a better week.
Continuing Charm Offensive, Rick Scott On C-Span for 45 Minutes; Watch Video
Scott has been giving media interviews every day for the past two weeks in an effort to pull his approval rating from the abyss. He is trying to raise his likability.
Rick Scott’s Poll Numbers Go From Dismal to Merely Bad in Latest Quinnipiac
Rick Scott remains among the least popular governors in America, with pronounced, and unusual, dislike of him as a person, and 61 percent of Floridians are dissatisfied with the way things are going.
Florida’s Juvenile Justice Eliminating 1,200 Jobs and Closing 3 Youth Prisons
The budget Gov. Rick Scott signed into law last week reduces juvenile justice’s budget 11 percent, and eliminates 700 jobs in addition to 500 vacant positions that will be abolished. The Legislature singled out youth prisons for closure.
Children as Billboards: From School Buildings to Buses, a Lunge for Ads and Revenue
The Flagler school district just broadened its advertising policy to allow ads in school buildings, websites and uniforms. State lawmakers are moving toward lifting the ban on ads on schoolbuses to make up for revenue the state is cutting.
Florida’s Deficit Grows by $135 Million, To $3.75 Billion, As Growth Remains Anemic
State revenue forecasters essentially tacked about $135 million dollars onto a budget shortfall that already stood at $3.62 billion, forcing lawmakers to consider deeper cuts as they craft a spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1.
All Business All the Time as Gov. Scott
Tells Lawmakers: “Don’t Blink”
Scott mentioned the word “job” or “jobs” 31 times in the 27-minute State of the State speech, lauded privatization, vouchers for private and parochial schools and the needs and virtues of business.
State of the State Tonight: Scott and Legislature’s GOP Keep Their War Civil–So Far
Don’t expect Gov. Rick Scott to deviate much from his frequent message as he delivers his first State of the State speech Tuesday night before a joint session of the Legislature: Budget cuts, tax cuts, potshots at Washington rather than his own dissenting GOP.
Scott Cutting $3 Billion Out of Education as Per-Pupil Spending Would Drop $300
Some 25,000 teachers’ jobs were saved by the federal stimulus in the past two years. Those jobs are now in jeopardy. Public colleges and universities are also hit hard.
Washington Oaks Gardens and Bulow Ruins Among 53 State Parks That Would Close
Similar proposals have been made before, but the state must close a $3.6 billion budget gap, and Gov. Rick Scott is not as friendly to the environment as Charlie Crist was.
Half of Flagler’s Legislative Delegation Listens to Local Pleas Without Quite Hearing Them
Sen. John Thrasher and State Rep. Fred Costello listened to 90 minutes of pleas and policy suggestions from Flagler County officials Wednesday in Bunnell. Whether they heard anything is debatable. And two of Flagler’s legislators didn’t show up.
Catch FlaglerLive on CNN
I’ll be on CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield during the 3 p.m. hour discussing the oil spill’s impact on local governments, and particular local school districts.