Legislative session ends

What made the cut

TALLAHASSEE, FL - It's finally over. The 2008 Legislative Session ended minutes after 6:00 p.m Friday. For the past two months both the House and Senate debated, lobbied and voted. Some pieces of legislation made the cut and will now go the governor’s desk for his signature to become law, but several other bills did not make it that far.

What passed:

The budget

Lawmakers approved a state budget of almost $66 billion with about $5 billion in cuts from last year. The House passed the plan on Thursday evening, the Senate on Friday.

Health cuts

Nursing homes will face a $163.7 million reduction in funding to care for resident on Medicaid. That amounts to a cut of roughly 6.5 percent and will mean homes will be paid what amounts to $10 less per day for each patient.

Education

Basic K-12 educational spending will drop by $131 per student, a cut of 1.8 percent. After the cut, the main schools operating budget will be $18.4 billion. Teachers who earn national board certification would still receive 10 percent bonuses but an additional 10 percent for teachers who mentor others to be certified will be discontinued.

Schools that earn top grades from the state will get bonuses of $85 per student down from the $100 in past years.

There will be a 6 percent tuition increase for university and community college students.

Law

Lawmakers cut spending for prosecutors from the state's general account by $14 million, a reduction of about 4.3 percent. State Highway Patrol troopers will get a 5 percent pay increase, part of an effort by lawmakers to stop troopers from leaving to take police jobs, which pay more. The budget cuts will eliminate about 200 jobs of probation officers. That means case loads will go up.

Environment

The Legislature agreed to spend $50 million on the ongoing Everglades restoration project. That's just a fraction of the $200 million that the state spent last year.

Transportation

The state will consolidate some driver's license offices and cut 35 jobs at those offices. The Road Ranger program, which gives free help to stranded motorists on the highways, will see its budget cut about in half. The state will no longer plant flowers, shrubs and trees along highways saving that money as well.

Other bills

Property insurance rate freeze - Those with Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will have their rates frozen for one more year under broad insurance legislation headed to the governor.

Property tax assessments - Under this bill it would be harder to tax properties based on the potential value of their land.

Wrongful incarceration - Also passed was the wrongful incarceration bill. Under the bill the state would automatically compensate people who are wrongly imprisoned, paying them $50,000 for every year they spend in prison.

Land for conservation - Lawmakers extended a program for buying land for conservation. The Florida Forever bill would increase the amount of money spent for buying lands to $530 million.

Child pornography - People who distribute or download child pornography could face civil action on top of criminal charges under this bill on it's way to the governor.

Motorcycles - A motorcycle speeding bill would increase fines for motorcycle riders who excessively speed or try stunts on public roads to $1000 for a first offense. A second offense would bring a fine of $2,500, and a third offense would lead to a fine of up to $5,000 and up to five years in prison. Riders convicted of a third offense also would lose their motorcycle licenses for 10 years.

Safer cigarettes - This legislation would mandate safer-burning cigarettes by 2010 designed to reduce fire in homes.

Bullying - This bill would ban any harassment of a K-12 student at a public school activity on a bus or via computer.

Gangs - toughens penalties for those involved in gang activity.

Driver's education - This proposal would requires teens to take driver's education courses.

Dating violence - Laws that currently protect domestic violence victims would be extended to including victims of dating violence.

State song - The Governor says he'll "probably" sign into law this bill to remove racially offensive lyrics from the state's current song, "Swanee River" and create a state anthem called "Florida, Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky" It was chosen from a yearlong statewide contest.

What didn't pass

There were several major bills that saw lot of debate during the session but ended up failing. Here's a run down on the bills that died during session this year:

*A commuter rail bill that would have created a rail service in Central Florida failed. The proposal called for purchasing required tracks from CSX. Governor Crist intervened late Friday to try to push the bill through, but it was blocked.

*A bill creating a Christianity license plate. Many thought singling out one religion over another would create problems.

*An abortion bill that would have required ultrasounds before abortions in the first trimester also failed. Currently the state already requires ultrasounds for abortions in the second and third trimester.

*Also a proposed ban on replica bull testicles on rear bumpers got cut from a transportation bill.

Despite all the cuts in the budget, money has been designated to support many local projects.

University of North Florida science and humanities building: $24 million
New Nassau County senior center: $500,000
Health sciences building at St. Johns River Community College in St. Augustine: $8 million
Ending septic tanks in Jacksonville's Lincoln Villas area: $300,000
University of Florida autism program in Jacksonville: $868,000
Firefighter training equipment at Florida Community College Jacksonville: $3 million
Restoring Williamson Creek in Jacksonville: $250,000
Drainage work on Jacksonville's Eastside: $100,000
Macclenny water conservation project: $250,000

Source: Florida Legislature