TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ Florida Gov. Rick Scott is signing a new state budget into law, but not before vetoing nearly $500 million from the spending plan.
Scott signed the roughly $78 billion budget in his office on Tuesday. State government would have been partially shut down if a new budget had not been in place by July 1.
The Republican governor praised the budget in an interview with The Associated Press shortly before he signed it. He noted that legislators had increased money for public schools, services for the disabled and set aside money for tax cuts.
Scott also used his line-item veto power to axe $461.4 million in spending from the budget. It is believed to be a record amount for budget vetoes.
