TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida may soon have its first $100 billion budget, a nearly $8 billion increase over the current year.
An open economy and over $20 billion in funding from the federal government have made the increase possible, but there is almost a problem of having too much cash.
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The cash has eliminated the need for major cuts across the board that lawmakers once contemplated.
“We still have a tremendous amount of issues we need to pay for, but at the end of the day, the federal money is very helpful,” State Rep. Jay Trumbull, the House Appropriations chair, said.
But it is almost a problem of having more money than can be spent.
The House’s education budget has $2.8 billion in federal money to help students who fell behind during the pandemic.
“Schools districts have no idea how they are going to spend the $2.8 billion that we got in December,” said House Education Appropriations Chair Randy Fine. “That speaks to the insanity of what Democrats did in Washington.”
On top of that $2.8 billion, Florida is getting another $7 billion to help schools reopen. But, as Fine points out, the state’s schools have been open since fall.
“And by the way, the fact that our schools are open proves that all of these blue states abused their children by not being open that whole time,” Fine said.
State Sen. Doug Broxson is in charge of education funding in the Senate.
“A boat load of money dumped on us,” he said. “And spending money recklessly is not what we should be looking at.”
The House wants to use $3.5 billion of federal funds to refurbish state buildings, universities and schools, but the spending plan is still in flux. Among the things still to be worked out are $1,000 teacher and principle bonuses the governor wants.
Lawmakers must agree on the spending plan by the end of Tuesday if they want to go home on time by the end of next week.