As the 2023-24 school year begins and students return to class, Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) begins Year 10 of the SMART Program. This is significant in that former Superintendent Runcie promised the taxpayers that all SMART projects would start within five years and be completed by year seven.

Over the past few years, with college tuition growing much faster than income after graduation, the mountain of pending student loan debt is growing. This affects the younger generation’s spending capacity, risk-taking willingness, and retirement savings. Recent debates focus on whether student loan debt should be forgiven, how much should be forgiven, the method of forgiveness, and the impact it would have on the future spending of taxpayers.

Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida TaxWatch released Fostering School Success: Unveiling the Effective Strategies of Florida’s Top Principals. This report provides a summary of a May 2023 roundtable discussion with five distinguished principals who were recognized through the government watchdog’s 2022-23 Principal Leadership Awards, which is an annual program – established in 2013 and still unlike any other program in the country – that identifies and rewards principals who are creating meaningful change in their at-risk K-12 schools across the state.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) released The Taxpayers’ Guide to Florida’s FY2023-24 State Budget, providing an overview of Florida’s Fiscal Year 2023-24 state budget, which was passed by the Florida Legislature during the 2023 Legislative Session and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on June 15, 2023. The guide analyzes all appropriations for the new fiscal year that began on July 1, 2023, net of the governor’s vetoes, including the $117 billion General Appropriations Act (GAA), “back-of-the-bill” spending, and appropriations made in general bills. After the governor’s vetoes, these items total $118.7 billion in spending, which means Florida’s state budget has grown by 28.6 percent in the last three years, the largest three-year growth since the housing bubble and economic boom of Fiscal Year 2004-05 through Fiscal Year 2006-07.

Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) released Florida Medicaid Redetermination, which examines Florida’s Medicaid Redetermination Plan and options for Floridians who will no longer be covered through Medicaid, but are still below the poverty threshold. The briefing also touches on the responsibility of the state legislature to address this “coverage gap” on behalf of the 388,000 individuals who may not have access to affordable health care.