The House OKs a budget

Following two more hours of floor debate, the Florida House voted Thursday to approve its version of a new $65.1-billion budget by a 72-41 vote. The action sets the stage for conference negotiations with the Senate, where there are major differences on spending in education, health care and trust fund diversions.

As the House voted, a group representing Florida's 14 public, teaching and children's hospitals released a paper saying the cuts in both chambers' Medicaid budgets will be "ripping holes in Florida's safety net." The report by the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida said: "Eliminating or reducing crucial Medicaid programs puts lives at risk and drives up the cost of health care for all Floridians."

Two of the biggest cuts cited by the alliance are in the Medically Needy program, which gives care for 19,500 uninsured working poor people who have catastrophic illnesses of organ transplants, and the Medicaid program for the aged and disabled for 24,000 people.

Comments

The "kick the people to the curb" House, with it's nefarious leader "Snidely Whiplash" Rubio, has picked it's latest targets from among the helpless and infirm. Can the Democrats (or term limits) arrive to save the day???

OF COURSE.....the sickest, the neediest, the most helpless get screwed!

and these pack of pusslickingdogs call themselves "christians"?

guess the missed the "whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me" bit!!

stocks and thelash are too good for these pusslickingdogs!!!!

[Bob]

I guess they forgot about cutting the "double dippers" club again.

Let's cut education but not the dippers within it. We need dippers and more administrators, not janitors or A/C.

The only "safety net" Rubio is interested in his his own, hence the $265 million contract with his friend, the Pork for his district, and the Pork for Miami-Dade Community College!!! That's why the House budget has plenty, plenty money for his $10,000 a month consultants. Nope no laying of of House staff. No cutting back on the House budget. Who cares that the members and their aides fly home each weekend for $700 a pop????

[john donson]

Rubio is done! You'll never hear from again after the next election. I just hope he takes Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez with him when he packs up his office.

Come November - REMEMBER!

Dear Bob,

The state cannot be run without the double dippers. No one would take the current salary offering, so the only people that can afford to run the government are those who have both a salary and a retirement to support their bills.

The issue is a red herring. The State is bankrupt and the leadership is proud of that fact instead of being embarrassed by it.