Looking under the hood of Florida's budget

State legislators have just one constitutional duty this session: Pass a balanced budget. But despite the billions in tax money pouring into state coffers every year, the task is harder than it sounds. There are just far more needs and wants than there is tax money. Complicating the effort: the volatile economy, which makes tax collections lower and budget shortfalls bigger. Also, the multibillion-dollar deficits usually occur within what's known as the "general revenue" portion of the budget, which is just a third of the current fiscal year's spending plan of $66.5 billion. Every dollar cut from there means less money for schools, Medicaid doctors, prisons or courts. But budget cuts also mean that taxpayers won't have more of their money spent on government.