Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 28, 2003
Re: Bush: Tough times, tough budget, Jan. 22.
This article states the Republican governor's proposed budget includes cuts for universities, juvenile crime prevention and health care for the poor. There would also be no money for raises for teachers or state workers. There is, however, a $600-million tax cut.
My question for Gov. Jeb Bush is, will anyone die if they don't get a tax cut? I mean literally die, not figuratively. This may be news to the governor, but actual people may in fact die if their health care and/or medication is cut. One of these people was profiled in the Times a few days ago (Lives hinge on budget choices, Jan. 20).
How can this governor and Legislature justify $600-million in tax cuts given all the people who are going to suffer due to lack of funding? Please don't tell me it's to stimulate the economy. Our president sold his tax cuts with that line, and the current state of the national economy proves it doesn't work. Do the Bushes only have compassion for the well off? Their priorities make me sick.
-- Stephen F. Hinkley, Clearwater
Re: Bush: Tough times, tough budget.
Gov. Jeb Bush has proposed his budget, and now we need our legislators to take the long-term view in setting priorities for our youth. Even though the president has asked that "no child be left behind," this state budget, if passed as written, may leave many youth behind. Funding for preventive youth programs was hit the hardest by the governor's budget. These are the programs that save taxpayers millions each year by keeping kids out of the juvenile justice system. Haven't we all learned from the "war on drugs" that prevention/treatment is preferable to prison?
Our kids and teens who are truant, ungovernable or runaways do not need to be in detention or jail. They need our love, support and a chance to be reunited with their families under the guidance of qualified counselors.
These prevention services have lost 25 percent of funding in the last two years. With the transfer of these services from the Department of Juvenile Justice to the Department of Children and Families, there will be more than a 50 percent further reduction in funds!
A report released last year on Florida's runaway, homeless, truant and troubled youth by TaxWatch showed that prevention services saved taxpayers $10-million to $15-million each year in delinquency costs. For example, it costs taxpayers more than four times as much to incarcerate a child in a juvenile detention facility as it does for the same child to be placed in a short-term crisis shelter where his or her family receives counseling services.
Please contact your state legislators and tell them we need these preventive services for our youth. Let's get our youth out of jail, off the streets and back home. Let them know we think the family is our priority!
-- Thomas Andrews, M.D., Tierra Verde
Re: Bush: Tough times, tough budget, Jan. 22.
Here we go -- it's payback time! How dare we not heed Gov. Jeb Bush's warnings and instead put our children's best interests first? He warned us not to vote for the class size reduction amendment, but we were arrogant enough to think our children are worth it!
Now it's time to pay the piper. Let's see, who's the least important on his list? How about people whose lives depend on the Medically Needy program?
Then there are the teachers, those devoted people we entrust with our children's educational, physical and mental well being five days a week. They certainly get paid enough don't they? I'm sure Gov. Bush and his family could easily live on a teacher's salary. They could spend their vacations camping on the Ichetucknee River. That doesn't cost too much. At least, of course, until it's destroyed by the cement plant the governor okayed.
Now how about the FCAT? That's a sure way to reduce overcrowding in high schools and colleges! It might significantly raise the drop-out rate which in turn could raise the juvenile crime rate. But the upside is: more room in schools for those who do test well.
One thing is for sure: We can't say he didn't warn us!
-- Tish Prestage, Clearwater
Re: Bush: Tough times, tough budget.
I have read with amazement Gov. Jeb Bush's remark that he "forewarned" the voters about Amendment 9 and the effects that it would have on the state budget.
Does the governor not know that the voters have been speaking to his administration, and that of his predecessors, and many legislative sessions for years about the help that our schools needed? Where was the sense of concern and urgency then?
A majority of Floridians (as did I) took this monumental step to get his attention as we were tired of the status quo of lower quartile ratings. We want better for our children, now and in the future. Governor, this is your chance to lead. Don't waste it on finger-pointing.
-- Mike Klapka, Clearwater
As chairman of the campaign to pass Amendment 9, I made a personal commitment to the people of Florida that if they approved this amendment I would do everything in my power to ensure the Legislature implemented class size reduction in the way voters intended.
While I appreciate some of the innovative recommendations made by Gov. Jeb Bush to ensure Florida is on the road to accountable class size reduction, we cannot implement this amendment by raiding so many areas of critical need in the state budget.
Earlier this month, at Gov. Jeb Bush's request, I provided the governor and legislative leaders with a variety of funding options to implement Amendment 9 without raising taxes on working families or cutting any critical services or programs.
While I am encouraged by Senate leaders' focus on fully implementing class size reduction without causing unnecessary strain on Florida families, I am extremely disappointed in Gov. Bush's budget proposal that attempts to punish voters for insisting Florida improve upon its ranking of 50th out of 50 states in per capita education spending. This "sour grapes" mentality of punitive governing that proposes raiding "trust funds," and cutting funding for our neediest citizens is an abdication of leadership.
Shifting the burden of funding class size reduction to local districts is a direct violation of the constitutional amendment passed by voters that expressly states the "costs associated with reduced class size" are the responsibility of the state and not of local school districts.
The people of Florida did not vote for gutting critical programs while still not adequately funding class size reduction. This amounts to nothing more than compassionate conservatism for big business. They did not vote for rolling back standards in public schools to shift more state funds into the private sector. We voted for the state to provide adequate funds to reduce class sizes in Florida's public schools -- all of Florida's public schools. Please contact Gov. Bush and remind him of his constitutional obligation to carry out the will of the voters who elected him.
-- Kendrick B. Meek, U.S. representative, Miami
I agree that it appears Gov. Jeb Bush is punishing us for voting for the class size reduction amendment. While reading about the new budget proposal I couldn't help but notice the proposed tax cuts. What! How can there be tax cuts during such a financially squeezed economy? Education should be the last program cut anyway, since the one sure way out of poverty is education! The educational level of the general populace is directly related to the overall socioeconomic condition in that area.
-- Yvonne M. Osmond, Hudson
Re: Bush: Tough times, tough budget.
For many years, I have supported local and state cultural organizations, and have offered community history lectures and college-level classes in Florida history. I take great pleasure in teaching others about the depth and breadth of our state's recorded history, one that predates Jamestown and Plymouth Rock (and certainly Mickey Mouse).
With great dismay, I noticed that one provision in the governor's proposed 2003-2004 budget would eliminate the state library, disperse its collections, and dismantle cultural agencies that previously fell under the Department of State. If you carry a library card, attend cultural events, or enjoy visiting museums or historic sites in Florida, you should be aware of this flawed proposal.
Since its inception, the state library has provided invaluable assistance to libraries throughout Florida. It lends materials to many libraries -- large and small -- that would otherwise be unavailable. The state library has built important networks that link school, public, and academic librarians by providing support for technical assistance, resource sharing and grant partnership opportunities.
If the Legislature approves the governor's proposal, resources that belong to all Floridians would be dispersed to institutions that do not have a statewide mandate. With the cuts slated for our universities, Florida State University will not have the ability to assist genealogists who use the collection of the "former" state library. Likewise, while park rangers have a valuable role in preserving the natural environment of our "real Florida," we need librarians, archivists and professional historians to make sure that important cultural treasures are not mistakenly sent to the shredder, a landfill, or "mysteriously" appear on a virtual flea market like eBay!
Dividing and dispersing our state's historic treasures and terminating these positions to satiate immediate political needs will have dire long-term consequences that far outweigh the dollars that may be saved in the short-term. These grants, historic programs, records, and materials belong to all of us: not FSU, not Leon County and not to the "highest bidder."
-- James A. Schnur, Largo
After listening to the governor give his press conference on our state budget, I cannot help thinking that he does indeed have a devious plan to derail Amendment 9.
As a Floridian, I felt as though I was being punished for something that I and the voters of Florida asked for. The governor's tone and demeanor came across as "you asked for it, now you're going to get it," and at your expense. This is the same demeanor parents might use with children to teach them a valuable lesson.
Well, governor, the only lesson that needs to be taught is to our children in smaller classrooms. It still sounds as though you do not support helping to create a more conducive learning environment for our children.
Florida voters understood that we were going to have to tighten our belts and make some sacrifices, but we do not need to feel belittled like children who are being punished. What happened to the healing that the governor spoke of after the election? I truly hope that the governor gets it one day!
-- Dewayne L. Mallory, Brandon
Letters for publication should be addressed to Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. They can be sent by fax to (727) 893-8675 or by e-mail to letters@sptimes.com (no attachments, please).
They should be brief and must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Please include a handwritten signature when possible.
Letters may be edited for clarity, taste and length. We regret that not all letters can be published.