FLORIDA BUDGET FINALIZED

GOP leaders in the Florida Legislature announced yesterday they have finalized a budget deal that boosts funding for education programs, land conservation and school safety. The budget deal allocates 400 million dollars for school safety programs, delivers what is called record funding for schools, boosts spending on Bright Futures college scholarship and spends 100 million dollars on the Florida Forever land conservation program. The budget also includes pay raises for law enforcement and sets aside 3 billion dollars in reserves. However, lawmakers struggled to reach a deal on hospital funding, which means they will not adjourn on Friday and must extend the session or call a special session to finish the budget.