TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida legislators have a reached a deal over most of the spending that will be included in a new $75 billion state budget.
House and Senate budget chiefs met shortly before midnight Sunday.
Part of the deal includes a 2.6 percent boost in spending on public school students.
Legislators also agreed to spend millions to help clean up the Indian River Lagoon.
They also agreed to delay a proposed split of the Florida A&M University and Florida State University engineering college while a study is done.
They agreed to give a 5 percent pay raise to state law-enforcement officers including highway patrol troopers. Legislators also agreed to give a pay raise to judicial employees. But rank-and-file state workers will not be getting an across-the-board pay raise.
