Topic: Education Funding

Lawmakers appropriated a record amount for public education, granted in-state tuition rates to undocumented immigrants and expanded a tax-credit scholarship program. .

The state budget headed to Gov. Rick Scott's desk does include a $500 million increase in spending for public education but most of the increase will come from local property taxes and Democrats are taking issue with Republicans referring to "historic levels" of spending on public schools.

Senators talking about how to divert money to the program without violating the Florida Constitution.

Florida legislators are trading last-minute offers to come up with a final deal on a new state budget. In the latest round of negotiations the Senate requested $150,000 to study separating the joint-university engineering school and the House agreed to spend money to restore Florida's springs and help with the Indian River Lagoon.

Much of the "work plan" put forth by both House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz has either been accomplished or is on track. But two big-ticket items favored by Weatherford - expansion of vouchers and a move to push most new state workers into a defined contribution pension system - have hit turbulence in the Senate as session enters its final two weeks.

State economists say the number of Bright Futures Scholarships will drop in coming years due to tougher standards. The Florida College Access Network estimates 20,000 fewer first-time scholarship recipients qualifying for the program compared to last year.

Sen. Dwight Bullard said the Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities is not in the scholarship business.

The bill now offers scholarships for public and private school students for various uses. "Don't be afraid of this," said Sen. Thrasher. "This is the kind of legislation that can change lives."

Sen. Bill Montford said another amendment to water-down the plan is in the works.

SB 1076, containing Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam's energy tax cut for businesses, was amended to split the money it will produce between the Public Education Capital Outlay fund and general revenue. "This takes a smaller bite at the apple .. . this basically cuts our proposal in half," said Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami and bill sponsor.

A proposal to direct an additional $120 million over four years to the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program is expected to clear the House but faces a big hurdle in the Senate. The Senate President opposes the bill as written.

Lawmakers will confront the four horsemen of education during the 2014 legislative session when they revise the school accountability system. Initiatives affecting charter schools, regulations of early learning programs and tying budget increases for higher education to performance are also on the agenda.

Two freshmen Democratic senators say even though the governor has proposed increased in education spending the past two years that Scott is still short-changing public schools. They note Florida is 45th in the nation in per pupil spending and teacher salaries are ranked 42nd in the country, $9,000 below the national average.

The agriculture commissioner outlined his energy proposals before a House subcommittee including cutting a tax on commercial use of energy roughly in half and shifting the remaining $225 million per year in revenue to the Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) Fund. He also said he doesn't think there is an appetite for renewable energy legislation this year.