Yeah, the craft brewers are getting screwed, but legislators are awash with cash this year and the turkeys are coming and will produce a record number of vetoes from Lord Voldemort.
QuoteTALLAHASSEE -- Unlike previous years, when lawmakers struggled to plug deficits, this year's budget is awash in cash.
Now, in the final week of the session, lawmakers have about $1.2 billion in surplus, bonus money that can go pretty much anywhere they choose.
That fact has stirred loose an avalanche of hometown projects, the likes of which Tallahassee hasn't seen in an election year since 2006.
"Think about it: What's the average size of member projects, $200,000?" said Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach. "Divide that into a billion. That's a whole lot of projects ... a lot of lawmakers are going to be happy."
Some projects are relatively small: A $350,000 fountain in the state's richest town, Palm Beach, and $123,000 for a dog park in an affluent Jacksonville neighborhood. Others are big: $12 million for Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford's alma mater, the private Jacksonville University
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/04/30/4088283/with-cash-to-spare-legislators.html#storylink=cp (http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/04/30/4088283/with-cash-to-spare-legislators.html#storylink=cp)
I presume the $123,000 turkey is for the Riverside Dog Park, nice to see that Riverside is considered affluent!