Florida lawmakers are heading back to Tallahassee with a deadline looming to finish the one task they did not complete during the regular session: passing a state budget. As negotiations restart, state economists are warning that Florida could be on the edge of a major revenue drop-off even as lawmakers move forward with a higher spending plan.
State forecasts project a shortfall of about $1.5 billion next year, with the gap growing to more than $6 billion the year after that. Lonni Atkeson, an FSU political scientist, said the state is approaching a steep downturn in available money.
“We have a cliff in a couple of years. We’re trying to cut back now. The question is, how much are we gonna cut back?” Atkeson said…