Lawmakers Near $1 Billion Deficit Reduction Deal
POSTED: Wednesday, January 7, 2009
UPDATED: 3:37 pm EST January 8,
2009
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Florida House is debating a budget-reduction package that includes nearly $1 billion in spending cuts for schools, health care and other state functions.The chamber began considering the plan Thursday and will vote Friday. The Senate will follow with floor action on its version Friday. Lawmakers then will work on resolving differences between the two before taking final votes next week.Lawmakers are meeting in a special session called to deal with an impending deficit of at least $2.3 billion in the current budget year due to a shortfall in tax collections resulting from the nation's sagging economy.Besides spending cuts, both plans would tap reserves, shift funds among programs, increase traffic fines, and borrow from trust funds including an endowment that invests the state's tobacco settlement funds for future use on health care programs for children and the elderly.
Previous Stories:
- January 6, 2009: Partisan Sniping Erupts Over Florida Budget Deficit
- January 5, 2009: Lawmakers Get To Work On $2.3B Budget Deficit
- December 16, 2008: Special Session To Address Budget Deficit
- December 2, 2008: State Mulls Raising Cigarette Taxes
- November 15, 2008: State Budget Cuts Exhausting School Reserve Funds
- November 6, 2008: New House Leader Expects Florida Deficit To Grow
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Two brothers -- ages 19 and 21 -- were shot when two gunmen entered their home and threatened their father, deputies say.
FIRST ON CLICKORLANDO.COM: A 2-year-old girl was strangled by a pet python at a Central Florida home, officials say.
A 16-year-old accused of faking a kidnapping says she was genuinely threatened and the 911 call she placed was not a hoax, although Orlando police disagree.
One-thousand people celebrate the United States' 233rd birthday by becoming citizens of the country in a ceremony at Walt Disney World.
A Georgia man spends the entire month of June living on an AirTran plane. 
Six teen girls lure a former friend to a home and ambushed her, taking turns pounding on her face and body for 30 minutes until she was unconscious as someone videotaped the violence, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
A 2-year-old girl was strangled by a pet python at a Central Florida home, officials say.
A woman faces multiple surgeries to correct the effects of trying to reshape her own features.
A 2-year-old girl was strangled Wednesday morning by a pet python at a Sumter County home, according to sheriff's officials.
As authorities renew their search for missing Central Florida boy, Trenton Duckett, Local 6 News has learned that a private investigator is looking into his mother's apparent secret side business of creating and performing in amateur pornographic videos.
Email Alerts
RSS News Feeds
Mobile
Live Streams
Slideshows
Video
Search
