Highlights from Florida’s new $83 billion budget

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Legislature on Monday approved roughly $83 billion in spending for 2017-18 in several bills. Gov. Rick Scott has suggested he may veto the budget. Here are a few key items in the budget bills you should know about:

— EDUCATION: The new budget increases day-to-day public school spending by $241 million, which translates into a 1.2 percent increase. Annual per-pupil spending would be $7,220.72, about $24 more than this year. A separate bill connected to the budget also includes nearly $234 million in bonuses for teachers and some principals. Legislators also have agreed to spend $140 million on “Schools of Hope,” which will provide incentives to charter school operators that open up schools in neighborhoods with failing schools.

— PROPERTY TAXES: Legislators rejected a proposal by Scott to use a rise in local property values to provide additional money for schools. Instead, the budget includes enough state money to have a small decrease in local property taxes.

— PAY RAISES: State workers will get pay raises in October. Rank-and-file employees who currently earn $40,000 a year or less will get a $1,400 pay raise, and those earning more than $40,000 will receive a $1,000 raise. Legislators have also agreed to give 5 percent pay raises to state law-enforcement officers and 10 percent raises to judges, state attorneys and public defenders.

— TUITION: Tuition rates for college and university students will stay the same in the new budget. Legislators have also agreed to increase several financial aid programs. Those eligible for the top level of the state’s Bright Futures scholarship will now receive an award equal to 100 percent of tuition and fees and $300 a semester for books. Top level Bright Futures scholarship recipients will also be able to receive money for summer classes. The budget also includes a large increase in financial aid for low-income students.

— CITRUS CANKER: Legislators included $37.4 million in the budget to pay homeowners who live in Broward and Lee counties and whose healthy citrus trees were torn down in a failed attempt to eradicate citrus canker.

— ENVIRONMENT: Legislators approved a stand-alone bill that pays for a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee that will be used to help avoid harmful discharges to coastal waterways. The estimated cost is $1.5 billion and is supposed to be split with the federal government. Scott signed the bill (SB 10) Tuesday. The main budget includes money for beach and springs restoration, but the budget does not include any money for Florida Forever, the state’s main conservation land acquisition program.

— HOSPITALS: The budget cuts payments to many hospitals across the state by $521 million, but some of that money may be added back later in the year. Scott has negotiated a deal with federal authorities that could result in as much as $1 billion for the low-income pool that reimburses hospitals for charity care. Because the agreement is not final, legislators did not include the money in the budget. Instead, the payments will be authorized at a later date.

— COUNTERTERRORISM: Responding to the Pulse nightclub shooting, legislators went along with a request from Scott to set aside nearly $6 million to hire 46 agents who will be stationed in seven regions across the state.

— TAXES: State legislators agreed on a tax cut package that is substantially scaled back from what Scott and House Republicans initially proposed. The tax cut package permanently eliminates the sales tax charged on tampons. It also includes a three-day holiday in August where sales taxes on most clothes and school supplies will not be charged. The tax cut legislation also calls for a three-day period in June where taxes will not be charged on hurricane supplies, including batteries, flashlights and generators.

— ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Legislators rejected Scott’s push for money for economic incentives. The new budget also cuts funding for Visit Florida, the state’s tourism marketing agency, from $76 million to $25 million. Scott has sharply criticized the Legislature for both moves.