Florida budget

Budget negotiations are ready to move forward in the Florida Legislature. The makeup of the various appropriations conference committees have been announced, along with overall funding amounts for different sections of the 2022-2023 fiscal year budget.

Florida lawmakers will have an additional $2.6 billion to play with in general-revenue taxes, along with nearly $6 billion in unspent federal coronavirus stimulus money, as they begin to piece together an election-year budget.

House and Senate leaders Monday night finished nailing down details of a roughly $100 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, after agreeing that first responders statewide should get $1,000 bonuses for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Florida lawmakers trying to piece together a roughly $100 billion state budget for the coming year spent the weekend trading offers on everything from teacher pay raises to more money to help mothers with newborn children.

Governor Ron DeSantis is recommending a budget of $96.6 billion for the next fiscal year, an increase of $4 billion from last year's budget. DeSantis’ plan comes as the state is expecting a deficit of more than $2.7 billion. The Governor says a large amount of his spending plan is earmarked for COVID-19 related costs and propped up by federal money.

Florida lawmakers return to Tallahassee in March facing at least a $2 billion budget shortfall. And that’s despite an infusion of more than $6 billion in federal money aimed at helping the state weather the coronavirus pandemic. The state’s chief economist recently noted there are some bright spots in Florida’s economy, but its overall financial position remains precarious.

The drop in revenues has led to widespread speculation about whether lawmakers will have to return to Tallahassee to cut a budget that took effect July 1st.

Getting ready for the possibility of a special legislative session to balance Florida’s budget, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and top House and Senate appropriations staff have called on state agencies to draw up ways to slice 8.5 percent from their current budgets to address “the expected shortfall” as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Governor Rick Scott signed off on an $88.7 billion budget plan for the upcoming fiscal year quicker than many expected. But, that hasn’t prevented the…

Governor Rick Scott’s $89 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year has received its yearly report card from the nonprofit research institute TaxWatch.…