"Florida lawmakers spent the past two months criticizing cities and counties for excessive spending. Now it's their turn to be held accountable. The new state budget is stuffed with local projects sponsored by individual lawmakers.
They spent millions on the kinds of projects that cities and counties are preparing to cut from their own budgets under the Legislature's threat of mandatory property tax reductions. Most of the projects are funded with one-time pots of nonrecurring money that under the state Constitution generally can't be spent for ongoing programs or salaries. So, while state employees won't get a pay raise, the budget includes... $50, 000 for an orchid festival [World Orchid Conference ?] in Miami. Some projects have a broad public benefit. The ones that don't are called "turkeys." Gov. Charlie Crist will decide which are which, using his line-item veto... "Time will tell, " Crist said. "I think it's very important to be judicious, to review each of those items and try to have a measure if it's in the public interest." " Uniform Resource Locator : http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/07/State/Crist_s_turn_for__tur.shtml ****************** Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
