  Out With The Old, In With The New Budget  By: Troy Kinsey
Email  For Diana Mahoney, crossword puzzles are a cinch compared
to what she calls our puzzling state government.  She can't get
over why Tallahassee's cutting nearly 190-million in medicaid
funding for nursing home care.  It's money Diana depends on for
the around-the-clock care and therapy her doctors say she has to
have.  Mahoney says:  "Florida is a state for seniors, more and
more, they move into the state daily to retire, and they need
their government's support, they need their government funds."
Rep. Gayle Harrell (R) Port St. Lucie says:  "This is the most
significant expenditure the state makes each and every year!"
With medicaid taking up nearly a third of the entire state
budget, republican leaders say there was no way around what
their critics have called 'draconian' cuts.  With every Florida
nursing home in line for an average cut of around a quarter-
million dollars, it's caregivers here on the front line who have
to do the heavy lift