TALLAHASSEE - For five quiet minutes last week, Sen. Tom Lee ducked out of the backslapping, hand shaking revelry over Gov. Jeb Bush's $369-million deal with the Scripps Research Institute.
Alone under the Capitol rotunda, Lee said he voted for the project, but not without reservations.
"Once the bright light is shined on our budget problems, we're really going to miss that money," said Lee, R-Brandon.
He's already feeling around for the light switch.
Lee is beginning work on a 2004 constitutional amendment to force lawmakers to look past the next election and write a five-year financial plan - similar to a business plan - that will give the state a better picture of where its money will come from over time and where it should be spent. The plan would be in addition to the annual budget lawmakers write each year and would help them develop a long-term financial strategy.
"You could do it without a constitutional amendment, but you'd be putting yourself in the position of having legislators ignore it," Lee said.
Lee is the man most likely to succeed Senate President Jim King a year from now. In the past two years the Legislature has had four special sessions to deal with the budget, and it won't get easier when Lee takes over.
Some estimates of the financial hole Floridians face are as high as several billion dollars, partly because Florida's share of the federal estate tax will dry up. And the cost of reducing class sizes will continue to climb.
Lee has been sounding the alarm about the Legislature's spending habits for a couple of years. He did it again in February as Bush budget director Donna Arduin gave senators a rosy picture.
"Here we are again: building a budget that focuses on getting us out of two years, declaring victory and shifting the liability down the road to the next group of people, without the tools to resolve the problems we know are going to be there," Lee told Arduin and other lawmakers. "We're so political sometimes we don't even want to know the answer," Lee said.
Lee has discussed the idea with state Rep. Allan Bense, R-Panama City, who is expected to succeed Rep. Johnnie Byrd, R-Plant City, as speaker of the House.
Bense said he welcomes the discussion but won't commit to the amendment. "I think it's a good idea that we're looking at that," Bense said.
State economists meet next week to estimate how much money Florida will need next year.
Earlier this year, House Democrats and some Senate Republicans complained when Bush refused to use $1-billion in federal economic stimulus money to stave off cuts in education. Now, more than a third of that money is committed to the Scripps deal, and Bush opposes spending the rest on continuing programs. Bad policy, he says.
Besides, 2004 is an election year. Lawmakers want to fund projects for constituents but not raise taxes. That could mean a gaping hole in 2005.
"That's always a temptation in an election year," said Dominic Calabro, president of the government watchdog group Florida Taxwatch.
Calabro, whose group has both supported the Scripps deal and called on the state to adopt a long-term financial plan, supports Lee's budgeting proposal. "It's a great idea, and it's long overdue," he said.
Lee needs three-fifths of members in each chamber to put the measure before voters. Former Sen. Jack Latvala and former Senate President John McKay are collecting signatures to put an amendment before voters to eliminate dozens of exemptions in the state tax code. Latvala also likes Lee's proposal.
"Too often we have legislators who are looking only from one election to the next," Latvala said. McKay and Latvala want a new system to review and eliminate sales tax exemptions, which could increase taxes.
Lee said his amendment is about planning, not necessarily raising more money.
"I can assure you I have no end game in mind. I just want the facts," Lee said.
