Opinion: Dysfunctional 'family' economics

House Speaker Johnnie Byrd says he is "especially proud" of the spending plan he has produced for next year, so proud that he calls it "Florida's family budget." His fondness for this slogan, given the demonstrable harm his budget will create, raises a fair question about his own view of the family: Does he think Florida families are so cheap and heartless they would let their elderly relatives die?

Here are some of the working principles of "household economics," as expressed in the House's 2003-04 budget:

Aunt Millie's on her own. Some 26,700 poor people count on Florida to take care of them if a catastrophic illness wipes out their bank accounts and their insurance. The program is called "medically needy," and the House wants to withhold medical care unless these people agree to live on only $450 a month. Florida's family leaves Aunt Millie to live out in the cold or die.

My son brings home too many books. The House would spend so little on public schools next year that districts are already laying off teachers, assistant principals, and classroom aides to get ready. Its budget cuts school technology spending by 20 percent, teacher training by 50 percent, remedial programs by 15 percent, textbook purchases by 22 percent -- even as enrollment continues to increase. Pinellas is already planning to eliminate 600 jobs, but says that will only represent a down payment on the $38-million in reductions required by the House. Florida's family thinks schooling is simply over-rated.

What's the cheapest college for junior? Universities are held in high regard in most state legislatures. In Florida, they've become a piggy bank to break. The House wants to take $84-million from universities next year, which would come on top of the $167.5-million it took this year and $450-million in reductions over the past 12 years. The cuts would be worse, too, if the House hadn't decided to make students pay 12.5 percent more in tuition next year. Florida's family is shopping for the cheapest university it can find.

Is that a child screaming? Close the blinds. Florida has the second highest number of child abuse cases in the nation. Some 198,420 calls were made to the abuse hotline last year, yet the House provides only a fraction of the money that new Department of Children and Families Secretary Jerry Regier says he needs. Florida's family will pretend not to hear the cries.

Take back my paycheck. The Legislature has reduced the state's income by $8.1-billion in the past four years, mostly through tax breaks to corporations and wealthier residents. The House wants to give at least another $200-million back this year, half of which would go to lighten the load for people with half-million-dollar stock portfolios. Florida's family thinks the boss is putting too much in the paycheck.

I love my dead-end job. The way Florida gets its income hasn't changed significantly in a half-century, which means it doesn't tax some of the people and businesses with the most wealth. The tax system is so outdated and unfair that the poorest fifth of taxpayers pay at eight times the rate of the wealthiest 1 percent, and Florida receives less income, per resident, than 45 other states. Florida's family has no aspirations to leave its dead-end job.

In Byrd's mind, Florida's families are cheap, stubborn and irresponsible. No single priority in their lives exceeds that of low taxation, even in a state that already grants them such a wish, and they believe their brightest future lies in spending less, saving less and selling out their children. But is this really what Floridians want?

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