TALLAHASSEE | Florida’s contentious and messy budget stalemate that divided the state’s Republicans and threatened to force the shutdown of state government is finally over.
With just days left, the Florida Legislature has reached a deal on a nearly $79 billion budget. The final budget was delivered to legislators late Tuesday afternoon.
The budget has winners and losers in the mix as the GOP legislative leaders battled for months over health care spending, tax cuts and how much money should be set aside to comply with a voter-backed land conservation amendment. Powerful legislative leaders were able in the waning moments to add tens of millions for hometown projects, even though they did not give state employees an across-the-board pay raise or cut taxes as much as Gov. Rick Scott wanted.
