Topic: State Budget

Gov. Rick Scott has until June 4 to decide on the $77.1 billion budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year, and special interests with favored projects will have their eyes peeled for his line-item vetoes.

A $1.2 billion surplus enabled lawmakers to boost spending in several areas including transportation projects boost in funding. Also, the Senate confirmed the head of the Department of Economic Opportunity and lawmakers nixed a requirement that jobless benefit seekers must take a skills test . Read more . . .

Discharges from Lake Okeechobee flooded the Indian River Lagoon last year and smothered seagrass and oysters under a blanket of brown-colored water. DEP is asking the Corps of Engineers to review its operational manuals on the eve of South Florida's rainy season.

Flush with cash, Florida legislators approved a record state budget that increases money for child welfare and schools and included a half-billion dollar tax cut but failed to agree to regulatory structure for telemedicine or expand scope of practice for nurse practitioners before ending a 60-day session Friday night.

The last $105 million of Gov. Rick Scott's goal of $500 million in tax and fee cuts was passed by lawmakers on Day 60 of the 60-day legislative session.

The chambers reached a deal to trim $105 million in taxes but left out of the package were a reduction in a communications tax and a break for the Daytona International Speedway.

Environmental funding for the Indian River Lagoon, higher education funding formulas and conflicting tax cut packages mark some of the biggest difference between the House and Senate as the session winds to a close.

House and Senate budget negotiators have agreed to $167.7 million in funding for affordable housing programs next fiscal year. The figure is more for the programs than in recent years, but $58.5 million will swept from the affordable housing trust fund.

The chambers are getting closer to an agreement on how to reach Gov. Rick Scott's goal of $500 million in tax cuts. Lawmakers have already passed a $395 million reduction in vehicle registration fees.

The chambers embarked on the budget conference process Monday night as they haggle over how to spend about $75 billion in the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

Much of the "work plan" put forth by both House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz has either been accomplished or is on track. But two big-ticket items favored by Weatherford - expansion of vouchers and a move to push most new state workers into a defined contribution pension system - have hit turbulence in the Senate as session enters its final two weeks.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says it is cleaning up contamination sites faster and cheaper than ever before. But the Florida Ground Water Association says there are too many sites that have not been assessed and cleaned up. DEP requested $125 million for the program this year and next year compared to the $192.8 million in revenue estimated to be collected from a tax on petroleum imports.

The priorities of House Speaker Will Weatherford, large ominibus bills and the finalization of the budget will all be in play in the session's final weeks.

The House and Senate are still wrangling on how to cut up to $105 million in taxes. Lawmakers have already passed a $395-million cut in vehicle registration fees and now the debate is over a variety of carve-outs for industries or a broad-based cut for people.