By Gina Jordan
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-955647.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – As lawmakers in Washington work to stave off a government shutdown, environmental and consumer advocacy groups in Florida are criticizing a House-passed budget resolution. Gina Jordan reports they are upset about the potential defunding of public priorities.
The advocates say Florida's looming 3.6 billion budget deficit will be made worse by proposed cuts at the federal level. Karen Woodall with the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy says the House resolution would slash the Head Start program, which provides early childhood development services.
"There would be an immediate cut of 41-million dollars to that program in Florida which is enough to serve roughly 61-hundred children, and this would come on top of the expiration in September of three-thousand slots that were funded by the 2009 Recovery Act."
A coalition that includes the Florida Public Interest research Group and Environment Florida is urging the U-S Senate to cut spending on waste, special interest subsidies, and tax loopholes, as an alternative to the proposed cuts to national priorities.