Florida had a budget surplus this year for the first time since the recession began, and that’s good news for the state’s social services programs, reports Margie Menzel of the News Service of Florida. Most lost funding...

House and Senate leaders Monday sent 34 bills to Gov. Rick Scott, who will have until June 4 to make decisions about a wide range of issues such as the Everglades and expert-witness testimony in lawsuits. Many of the bills drew...

Gov. Rick Scott spread the pain. As Scott signed a $74.1 billion state budget Monday, he used his line-item veto power to eliminate proposals that ranged from spending $14 million on a building project at Gulf Coast State...

A number of organizations up for state funding in the budget agreed to potential repayment terms set down by Gov. Rick Scott. Scott had asked the Tampa Bay Innovation Center in St. Petersburg, the Florida Horse Park...

Unlike in his statement last week when he unloaded on the annual report highlighting budget items that TaxWatch says didn’t go through the normal budget process and are ripe for a veto, Senate President Don Gaetz strikes...

Governor Rick Scott signed the budget Monday morning in Tallahassee, the first budget he has signed at the Capitol, highlighting the $1.08 billion increase in K-12 education funding over last year’s budget. The $1 billion increase the...

For anyone still unconvinced that Governor Rick Scott knows the negotiation dance and uses it to the benefit of his priorities, look no farther than the most recent developments in hospital Medicaid funding. During the 2013 session,...

Early Tuesday Gov. Rick Scott should be wheels down at Aeropuerto de Santiago de Chile with most of the 100 others taking part in his eighth international trade mission, reports Jim Turner of the News Service of Florida. The...

Gov. Rick Scott plans to sign the $74.5 billion budget into law today, but will announce that he is using his line item veto power. Among the things Scott is expected to veto is a three percent...

A morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. THE WEEK AHEAD via the News Service of Florida The governor, with the budget on his desk awaiting a signature, heads to Chile on a trade mission next...