No shortage of ‘turkeys’ in state budget

Despite a $4 billion budget shortfall that prompted Florida lawmakers to slash school funding, healthcare and other services, one area of government spending emerged unscathed: the big-dollar pork projects known in Capitol parlance as “turkeys.”

The business-backed Florida TaxWatch group Tuesday identified $202.9 million in “turkeys” — the most since 2007 — slipped into the $69.7 billion budget by lawmakers. Items earn the label because they were either inserted into the spending plan late in the session, without public debate, or funded even though the governor or state agencies never requested them.