TALLAHASSEE -- Rocked by scandals and shoddy results, Gov. Jeb Bush's drive to turn over many state services and millions of taxpayer dollars to private companies appears certain to be slowed by the state's newly minted Republican leaders.
House Speaker Allan Bense of Panama City and Senate President Tom Lee of Brandon say they will put the brakes on privatization efforts this year, a sudden shift away from what has been a cornerstone of Florida government since Bush took office six years ago.
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"The mother of all privatization efforts is what he is talking about with his Medicaid proposal," said Iris Lav, deputy director of the Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which sees Florida as a possible model for what President Bush will propose at the federal level.
Gov. Bush, in his second inaugural address, spoke of emptying Tallahassee's downtown buildings of workers, turning the structures into "silent monuments to the time when government played a larger role than it deserved or could adequately fill."
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