State foreclosure plan expected this week

Florida has a $2 billion budget gap, foreclosures are skyrocketing and
unemployment continues to rise. As politicians from both sides of the
aisle debate filling the gap, Governor Charlie Crist is expected to unveil
a plan to ease the foreclosure crisis, either through executive action,
voluntary help from the banking industry, or a combination of both.
Nationwide, the National Conference of State Legislatures recently sent
a letter to President-elect Barack Obama reminding him that 31 states,
including Florida, were looking at a combined $40 billion shortfall in
their 2009 fiscal year budgets. Crist and Florida lawmakers already are
well aware of the state’s troubles and are pondering a special
legislative session in December or January to cut more deeply into an
already depleted $66 billion budget.