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Fishkind Conversations: New Florida Budget Gets A D+

90.7's economic analyst Dr. Hank Fishkind, President of Fishkind and Associates
90.7's economic analyst Dr. Hank Fishkind, President of Fishkind and Associates

Last Friday lawmakers struck last-minute deals on schools, roads, tourism and water to bring a bumpy special session to an end and pass an $81 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1st.

90.7’s economic analyst Hank Fishkind says if he had to grade it, he’d give it a dismal D+. He says it’s not an F grade because there’s money to take on environmental concerns around Lake Okeechobee and restores Visit Florida funding.

But Fishkind says the budget simply fails to meet the economic needs of Florida and its residents...and that he was troubled by the tone of the policy debates. He starts by telling 90.7's Nicole Darden Creston why.

Nicole came to Central Florida to attend Rollins College and started working for Orlando’s ABC News Radio affiliate shortly after graduation. She joined Central Florida Public Media in 2010. As a field reporter, news anchor and radio show host in the City Beautiful, she has covered everything from local arts to national elections, from extraordinary hurricanes to historic space flights, from the people and procedures of Florida’s justice system to the changing face of the state’s economy.