Budget goes down to the wire, again

The Legislature finally decides on a spending plan on the last day of a second special session.

By STEVE BOUSQUET, ALISA ULFERTS and ANITA KUMAR
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 14, 2002

TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Legislature finished a two-week special session Monday in rapid-fire fashion, passing a budget, raising college tuition, handing a tax break to corporations and demanding price tags on citizen-led ballot initiatives.

It was a far different ending from last month's one-week special session, which collapsed in anger and bitterness as last-minute deals unraveled.

This time, Gov. Jeb Bush and lawmakers celebrated the close of the session by looking ahead to the fall election campaign.

They stood at a lectern flanked by campaign-style posters that declared, "The Florida Legislature just passed the largest ever increase for K-12 spending," and "Six-billion dollars in tax relief for Florida's seniors, savers and businesses over the past four years."

Though technically correct, both statements left out crucial context. The education spending increased only after hundreds of millions of dollars were cut in December. And the only tax relief this year went to corporations, not consumers, who lost a popular sales tax holiday for the first time in five years.

"I'm proud of the results. I think a lot of good things were done," Bush said.

Democrats disagreed. "It's clear, Jeb Bush continues to put corporations first, and Florida's people last. With this pitiful budget, Jeb Bush and the Republican-led Legislature are guilty of continued gross fiscal mismanagement," said Democratic Party Chairman Bob Poe.

Legislators already had passed a massive rewrite of the state education code and laid out the duties of the chief financial officer, both of which they failed to do during a special session in April.

The most important bill was left to the final day, the passage of a $50.4-billion spending plan. The Senate approved the budget 25-11 after an 81-35 vote in the House.

The budget deal

Bush, seeking to become the first Republican governor to win re-election, begins his defense of the budget as he revs ups his re-election campaign today with appearances at schools in Hillsborough County and Orlando.

The governor called the $1.1-billion school spending increase "historic in tough times."

The 6 percent increase for K-12 actually is less than 2 percent after accounting for inflation and budget cuts made in December.

Tuition for community college students will rise by 3 percent, and university undergraduates will pay 5 percent more. Graduate student tuition could rise by an additional 5 percent, and tuition for out-of-state students could leap by as much as 20 percent.

Though 103 House members signed a pledge opposing raids on environmental land funds, lawmakers balanced the budget by taking more than $200-million from a variety of funds dedicated to environmental protection.

Legislators insisted no land purchase was jeopardized, but some environmental activists called it an unprecedented raid. "The effects of this are long-term," said Marianne Gengenbach of the Nature Conservancy.

Corporate tax break

Bush won passage of a $262-million corporate tax break that is part of a federal economic stimulus package signed into law in March by his brother, President George W. Bush. It allows companies to claim a faster depreciation allowance on equipment bought after the terrorist attacks of last Sept. 11.

Some legislators are uneasy about defending a vote for a business tax break when they also ended the popular sales tax holiday for back to school items such as backpacks and sneakers.

A frustrated Sen. Anna Cowin, R-Leesburg, her voice breaking, sharply criticized Senate President John McKay, R-Bradenton, for not bringing up the sales tax holiday for a vote after it was approved overwhelmingly by the House.

Cowin said 27 senators, more than two-thirds of the Senate, favored it.

McKay interrupted Cowin, said she was not discussing the bill under consideration and refused to let her go on.

In the past, McKay has said the "will of the Senate" would prevail even if he opposed an issue. Not this time: He singlehandedly stopped the sales tax holiday.

"Most of the folks in my district, when they talk about a sales tax holiday they've always considered it a gimmick, the guys I play golf with, or the folks I run into in my business or daily life," McKay said. He added that he "never had the first call" about the tax holiday from the governor's office.

"Oh, that's not true," Bush responded. "We talked about it. Look, I don't want to put a sour note on a lot of good work. But he could have read the papers."

No deal on drug abuse

The Legislature rejected a Bush-supported plan to deal with Florida's growing prescription drug abuse problem. The House and Senate blamed each other for an agreement that blew up at the last minute.

The bill called for the state to build a database so police and health professionals could track hundreds of thousands of Floridians who use more than 100 commonly prescribed medicines such as Ritalin, OxyContin and codeine. Some lawmakers and privacy rights groups worry that the proposal interferes with the rights of innocent people.

"I would suggest this is Big Brother in the worst way," said Rep. Ken Sorensen, R-Key Largo.

The House narrowed the scope of the database but the Senate did not take up the change. "We had an agreement, but are back looking at something a lot different than what we agreed to," said Rep. Marco Rubio, R-Coral Gables. "The Senate adjourned and left us holding the bag."

It was the only measure Bush wanted this session that did not pass.

Price tags for amendments

Lawmakers did approve a bill requiring a price tag for citizen-led proposals to amend the Constitution in November, including a controversial multibillion dollar plan to reduce class sizes. The House passed the measure 75-39; the Senate voted 26-12 for it last week.

"Our voters are going to be more informed," said Rep. Dudley Goodlette, R-Naples.

The state Revenue Estimating Conference, economic experts who calculate how much tax revenue the state will raise, must develop estimates of how much a citizen initiative will cost.

Starting in July 2003, those estimates would be subject to review by the Florida Supreme Court and would apply to all amendments regardless of whether they were proposed by citizens, the Legislature or the Constitutional Revision Commission.

This year, however, they apply only to citizen-led initiatives, not those proposed by the Legislature.

Bush, who has voiced serious reservations about the class size amendment, asked lawmakers to take up the bill during the special session and he is expected to sign it.

"It ain't right. To come in and change the rules, it ain't right," said Rep. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale.

Social services

Lawmakers also imposed stiffer punishment for social workers who falsify records, as in the case of missing five-year-old Rilya Wilson, but did not resolve a decades-long debate over the way Florida pays for social services.

Low-income adults will have access to hearing aids, vision and emergency dental care while those who have exhausted their own health insurance and depend on the state's Medically Needy program are covered for one more year.

Lawmakers also established a program that provides prescription drug coverage to certain Medicaid-eligible senior citizens. The program was named the Ron Silver Senior Drug Program, honoring the Miami-Dade County senator and longest-serving legislator.

-- Times staff writer Craig Pittman contributed to this report.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright