Legislature Moving Towards Budget Agreement
MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) - Republican leaders of the Florida House and Senate have agreed to terms to begin budget negotiations. The new budget, set to be around $66.5 billion, will have deep cuts to social services and primarily to education.
Senate President Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon settled on a general revenue total of $22.7 billion. The total cuts nearly $4 billion in spending.
But, that's only one cog of the massive budget. The rest will be from trust funds dedicated to needs and federal funds for items like Medicaid and highway improvements.
"For months, I've heard over and over again that we would never be able to get this done," Haridopolos said. "Working as a team, the House and Senate reached these budget allocations on behalf of all Floridians."
Still, there was a stench of backroom politics to getting the budget deal to the table. The state Senate quickly approved a court stacking bill championed by Speaker Cannon, and then the deal moved forward quickly.
The court stacking plan would split the state Supreme Court in half and possibly allow an ideologically biased court to take shape. Cannon is still angry after some of his state constitutional amendments were removed last year by the Court.
The current legislative session is set to end on May 6.
