Amid a controversy about cuts to the state's Adults with Disabilities program, which provides job training to more than 13,000 Floridians, Gov. Rick Scott will recommend restoring at least part of the money in next year's budget, a spokesman said Wednesday.
"We still have more work to do, and that is why I look forward to once again recommend investments into vocational rehabilitation services to help provide job training to adults with disabilities in my proposed budget later this year,” Scott said in a statement.
The governor will recommend a proposed 2016-17 budget before lawmakers start the 2016 legislative session in January. Lawmakers reduced the program's funding from $10 million to $750,000 in the budget that took effect on July 1.
The statement came as Scott held two ceremonial bill-signing events in Jacksonville and West Palm to highlight legislation aimed at helping people with disabilities.
He ceremonially signed SB 642, the Florida Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, which provides a mechanism for some people with disabilities to save funds for future services without losing their eligibility for state and federal benefits.
He also pointed to this year's allocation of $1.2 billion for the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, which includes funding to reduce a waiting list for services at the agency.
