Give him this much. House Speaker Johnnie Byrd still wears that broad smile. He still tells people "it's been a great day in the state of Florida," and he and Gov. Jeb Bush still insist they are fighting the enemy of liberal spending in state government. In fact, they have become so blissfully consumed by their antigovernment ideologies they fail to notice how few of their own friends are now standing with them.
Florida is in a budgetary crisis, and let's forget for a moment what the governor's political opponents are saying. The parade to the capital is also being joined by conservatives, Republicans and business people. They are increasingly stirred by what they see as fiscal irresponsibility, a refusal to accept the harm that major cuts to universities and schools and road construction and affordable housing and child welfare will bring to this state.
Take Florida TaxWatch, an organization devoted to holding state government accountable for its spending. Its committees of business executives identified more than 100 sales tax exemptions worth nearly $1.3-billion that should be considered for removal. Said TaxWatch president Dominic Calabro: "Those who don't recognize the challenges and opportunities facing Florida are in a state of fiscal denial. . . . Our system of taxation will only see greater challenges heaped upon it unless we act wisely now."
Take the Florida Association of County Commissioners, and the roughly 200 commissioners who traveled recently to the capital. The House and governor want to balance the state budget, in part, by forcing county taxpayers to pay more. Said Chuck Dunnick, a Republican Osceola County commissioner: "We're here today with a clear message for our state's leaders: Fix your problems. Don't just shift them onto Florida's 67 counties. Don't claim to be living within your means when you are really trying to live within ours."
Take the Florida School Boards Association, and more than 300 education officials who went to Tallahassee to plead their case. Some school districts are facing cutbacks of $30-million or more for the coming school year. Said Wayne Blanton, the association's executive director: "If we don't get more money for education, our new motto will be, "Stack 'em deep and teach 'em cheap.' "
The list of the disenchanted is growing almost every day. It includes big-city mayors, county and circuit judges, university presidents, school PTAs, corrections officers, librarians, teachers, the League of Women Voters, the Florida AARP, environmental groups, consumer organizations. These are people who want to make sure that state government provides for its residents, but they have witnessed a disturbing fiscal trend. In recent years, they have seen tax cuts, budgetary shell games with trust funds and a continuing shift of taxation to cities and counties. They have seen debt increasing, and a system of taxation that is growing more regressive and more unstable.
"The real irony here is that this all has been passed off as a fiscally conservative approach to the state budget," says Ed Montanaro, who retired last year as the Legislature's chief economist. "In fact, it is the polar opposite. There's never been a more reckless and fiscally irresponsible policy that has been the fiscal policy of the state of Florida."
Byrd and Bush are still smiling, though, behaving as though those around them are selfish and ignorant. Byrd calls the House's proposed 2002-03 budget "wonderful" and routinely lashes out at his Republican counterpart in the Senate, President Jim King, for "good ol' boy gamesmanship." At least the governor and House speaker seem happy in their world. Too bad for Florida that it's a fictional one.
[Last modified April 6, 2003, 01:16:49]
Perspective
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
