The House of Representatives is inching closer to finalizing the budget.
in lI ate the night budget discussion.House and Senate leaders are nearing a final agreement on education spending, with the House approaching the Senate on a range of K-12 schools and higher education programs.
the House of Commons agreed to that spend $100 million on grants The Senate provided grants to school districts to help them launch career and technical education workforce development programs that were originally included in the budget.
But the House stuck with $20 million for the New World Scholarship Account, which promotes early learning literacy.
The House's latest proposal includes $10 million for the Florida Citizen Seal of Excellence, which would pay $3,000 stipends to teachers who complete civics training programs. That amount is $4 million less than the House wanted, but $3 million more than the Senate wanted.
Congresses have already agreed on a major funding formula for public schools, but final touches still need to be made on the education budget.
in higher education, the House offered $50 million for the University of Florida's Lastinger Center for Learning, which was close to the Senate's $62.3 million preference. The Community Schools Grant Program also has $9.1 million available, just short of the $10.6 million the Senate had hoped for.
The House also raised $5 million to expand a program that provides stipends to law enforcement officers, but that's only a third of the $15 million the Senate wants.
Each chamber will meet a 72-hour “cooling off” period required by the state constitution before lawmakers vote on the budget and adjourn to the regular session on the scheduled closing date of March 8. , must reach agreement on a final spending plan by Tuesday.
Although the two chambers are close on many areas, they will need to find agreement on nearly every area of the budget and matching and implementing legislation that governs how the money is spent.
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