Gov. Rick Scott recently announced that $1.5 billion would be available through the so-called LIP program, which sends additional money to hospitals that care for large numbers of poor and uninsured patients. State and federal health officials continue to negotiate how the money could be used.
On the environment, the Senate was backing away from at least some of its funding of Florida Forever, a land conservation proposal.
“In order to do the things we need to do in South Florida, with the St. Johns River, all throughout the state, with Lake Apopka, tough choices had to be made,” said Sen. Rob Bradley, the Fleming Island Republican who chairs the Senate’s environmental budget committee.
Meanwhile, complaints about transparency continued to dog the budget process.
In comments to reporters Friday, Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, said House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, was responsible for mingling discussions of policy issues with negotiations about the outline of the budget that lawmakers are now filling in.
