House Democratic Caucus members voted on Friday to oppose a Republican-crafted state budget that fails Florida’s families and small businesses and doesn’t prioritize job creation.
House Democrats warned that the budget amounts to an assault on Florida’s middle class with new fee hikes, deep cuts to health care and higher education, and more hardships for seniors in getting the care they need.
Democrats also cautioned that the budget will reduce services that Floridians depend upon and will eliminate jobs needed to bolster Florida’s economic rebound.
Among the budget’s lowlights are, it:
- Slashes university budget reserves by $300 million
- Cuts Bright Futures Scholarships by $350 million
- Reduces hospital payments by hundreds of millions of dollars
- Cuts Clerks of Court funding, with potential loss of jobs
- Continues millions of dollars in unneeded tax relief to major corporations
- Rejects $439 million in federal health care funding under the Affordable Care Act
The Democratic Ranking Member on Appropriations, Rep. Charles Chestnut (D-Gainesville), issued the following statement regarding his ‘no’ vote on the 2012-13 budget.
“The budget I rejected today is a far cry from the promises heard earlier this session about how the Legislature would focus on job creation. The budget sets up a devastating triangle against students in working families through a combination of tuition hikes, cuts in university funding and reductions in student financial aid. The Legislature should have written a better budget.”
[…] Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Longmore moved to Florida in 2004 for a job overseeing print sales for Tama Broadcasting, a national African American media chain. He saw a need for hyperlocal news in the Orlando area, and started West Orlando News in 2005, at first as a weekly newspaper. But as the business model for print became harder to sustain, Longmore focused in on web content, and went exclusively digital in 2009. The site covers a wide array of local topics, from Orlando’s schools to reviews of cultural events in the area. The site is also dedicated to covering local politics, and has featured interviews with government officials, as well as analysis of policy and budgetary decisions. […]