The surplus for next year’s state budget is nearing $1 billion, giving lawmakers more room to bankroll their priorities as well as Gov. Rick Scott’s call for additional tax cuts and record per-student school funding.

At a meeting Monday, state economists added $622 million to the total available for Scott to use when he proposes his spending plan for the coming budget year, which begins July 1. That would be in addition to the approximately $336 million surplus that had been projected earlier.