"I hope and I believe we figured out a way that we can continue to do what we all agree with, " said Governor Rick Scott in Miami Friday, standing side by side with his chief political rival House Speaker Richard Corcoran.
The Governor announced he and the legislature are closing in on a budget deal, involving everything from your child's education to promoting Florida tourism.
"I appreciate the fact that people fight for what they believe in," he says about the political battle with Speaker Corcoran over Visit Florida funding.
And it has been a fight, a political slug fest, between the governor and the speaker. But both seeming to find common ground after the Governor vetoed $400-million dollars from the state's $82-billion dollar budget. A budget that while the governor signed off on he's now making lawmakers go back to Tallahasee next week for a pecial session to essentially re-negotiate how your tax dollars will be spent.
"Sometimes when you miss during a session you are there for 60 days it's high impact your in that bubble and when you miss, you miss narrowly, you miss by inches, " says Speaker Corcoran.
Some of those "inches" are focused on education.
The governor now calling on lawmakers to add $215-million dollars to K through 12 funding.
And by using his veto leverage the governor appears to have successfully secured more than $100 million into his pet programs, Enterprise and Visit Florida, which give money to companies in exchange for job creation.
