Florida's 2017 Budget At Record High

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BRADENTON, Fla. – Florida has a record state budget for the fourth straight year.

Gov. Rick Scott signed the $82.3 billion fiscal 2017 spending plan into law late Thursday night, the same day it was sent to him by the Legislature for action.

The spending plan, which takes effect July 1, exceeds the 2016 budget by about $4.1 billion.

Two days before putting his signature on the budget, Scott warned that he planned to veto $256.1 million in line-item expenditures. He did just that.

The largest single line item cut from the budget was $55 million that lawmakers intended to sweep from State Economic Enhancement and Development Trust Fund for other purposes.

Big-ticket items that were purged also included $15 million for an innovative technology center at Eastern Florida State College, $11 million for a performing arts center at Pasco Hernando State College, $10 million for train crossing improvements, $4 million for water storage projects, $3 million for parking facilities in Cocoa, and $2.5 million for a commerce park in Lake Worth.

Scott said the projects he axed did not provide a "significant return on taxpayer investment."

The total amount removed from the budget is just slightly more than the $250 million the governor sought for additional economic development incentives. Lawmakers did not include Scott's request in their budget.

Legislators also included in their budget authorization $328.3 million in new money bonds for public education capital funding, and the Florida Department of Transportation's request for $420 million of bonds for right of way and bridge projects, and $205.5 million for turnpike-related projects.

The governor's office did not respond to questions seeking clarification about whether the bonds were approved by Scott.

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