Florida has whacked its budget by $7 billion over the past three years. That's not just slower growth; that's a real decrease in spending.
Has Tallahassee cut all it can? Gov. Charlie Crist apparently thinks so,because he proposes a $2.7 billion hike this year.
Florida Democrats may be gearing up to face Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate race this November, but polls suggest that Gov. Charlie Crist would be a tougher opponent.
Numbers from Public Policy Polling (PPP) released Wednesday follow on the North Carolina-based pollster's report a day earlier that showed Rubio swamping Crist in the Republican primary 60-28.
Medicaid is sick, and it's giving Florida a case of budget consumption.
Gobbling up nearly a third of the state's revenues, the medical program for the indigent and disabled is projected to cost Floridians $19 billion this year -- a billion more than last year.
What's worse, patients are unhappy about the level of care they receive, and some providers flat-out refuse to serve them.
Behind the jokes on national television aboutback waxing, Gov. Charlie Cristis in a fight for his political life.
A poll released Tuesdayshows former House Speaker Marco Rubio trouncing Crist for the Republican Senate nomination, 60-28.
Stakes are rising in Florida's brewing water war with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"Potentially, this will cost businesses $100 billion to $200 billion, just in capital costs," Kurt Spitzer, executive director of the Florida Stormwater Association, told Sunshine State News Monday.
"Frankly, we're mystified by the (proposed) rules."
Is there a shell game afoot on stimulus money?
A reliable source, speaking on background, told Sunshine State News that Florida budgeteers may be considering ways to use federal stimulus dollars to pad state reserves.
By Kenric Ward
What role -- if any -- does state government have in shepherding Florida through tough economic times?
Attorney General Bill McCollum's first order of legislative business is to go after attorneys -- and he's hoping the third time will be a charm.
It's one in a series of tort-reform initiatives that will pit business interests against the trial bar at the 2010 session.
Topping McCollum's list of priorities is a bill that would limit the Attorney General's Office from entering into contracts with private attorneys to represent the state.
