TALLAHASSEE — House and Senate leaders announced a deal on the state budget during a late-night meeting Monday, pumping more than $120 million in last-minute projects into the spending plan and setting the Legislature on course to end its annual session Friday, as scheduled. The final negotiating session between the budget chiefs for the two…
TALLAHASSEE — Lawmakers have agreed on a $400 million tax-cut package that is a shadow of the $1 billion in reductions sought by Gov. Rick Scott. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday unanimously advanced a key portion of the plan (HB 7099), which is centered on a $290 million cut in local property taxes for…
The Florida Legislature, particularly the House, is hell-bent on pushing its charter school facility funding and expansion agenda at the expense of the state’s traditional public schools. Let me be perfectly clear. I don’t oppose charter schools. In fact, I’ve been very supportive of them. While in the Legislature I voted for legislation that promoted…
Some of the most controversial education measures being discussed during the 2016 legislative session could have a new vehicle for passage in the Florida Senate, indicating a possible deal between House and Senate leaders to get these proposals through before session ends in two weeks. Senate education budget committee Chairman Don Gaetz, a Republican senator from…
Nearly 30 education-related topics — including some of the most high-profile and contentious policies discussed this year — have been folded into two bills that the Florida Senate’s budget committee approved Thursday. Niceville Republican Sen. Don Gaetz proposed sweeping rewrites of two of his bills in order to give House and Senate priorities a better chance at…
TALLAHASSEE — Still trying to work out differences on key issues such as tax cuts and economic-incentives funding, House and Senate leaders have not made enough progress to begin formal negotiations on a budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. “I’d say we’re making some progress, but we’re not there yet,” Senate Appropriations…
Florida House Republicans again have set their sights on pension reform for government employees. A proposal automatically enrolling new hires in a defined-contribution plan Tuesday cleared its final House committee on a mostly party-line vote. The proposal by Rep. Matt Caldwell, R-Lehigh Acres, would create survivor benefits for first responders enrolled in the so-called investment/defined…
TALLAHASSEE – The Senate and House on Thursday passed differing versions of a state budget but with the common theme of opposition to Gov. Rick Scott’s biggest priorities. The Senate declared Scott’s goal of $1 billion in tax cuts dead on arrival and “fiscally irresponsible” in the words of its top budget-writer, Sen. Tom Lee,…
TALLAHASSEE – With resounding opposition from Democrats and school officials, Republican lawmakers in the Florida House are fast-tracking a proposal to significantly change how public school districts use taxpayer money to fund construction projects, while making it easier for charter schools to get capital dollars. Education budget committee Chairman Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, is spearheading…
TALLAHASSEE — Republican leaders of the Florida Senate want to drastically change how they dole out funding for after-school programs that provide homework help, mentoring and gang prevention services to thousands of children, often living in Florida’s most impoverished and vulnerable neighborhoods. Senators want to increase funding, provide it to more organizations and ensure the…