An improving Florida economy has produced more tax money and, with it, a moment of clarity about the state's priorities. The desperate budget the Legislature cobbled together just more than five months ago is now $541-million richer, but where is the sense of urgency? Where is the indignation for the 33,000 children who have lost medical care, the 12,600 disabled adults waiting for help, the 35,000 eager high school graduates who were turned away from community colleges? The new money is the result of an updated forecast, made official by the state Revenue Estimating Conference on Friday, and it contributes to an extraordinary budgetary spectacle. In a time of economic stress, in a year in which major education and social service programs were cut, the state is now projected to end up with a general government surplus of nearly $1.6-billion. Much of that is from a one-time federal stimulus package, but the size of the surplus has even veteran budget writers shaking their heads. Last year, at this same time, the projected surplus was $170-million.
Gov. Jeb Bush says is pleased to see the new money but, curiously, has no plans to spend it. His spokeswoman, Alia Faraj, says the money should be put in the bank for next year and goes so far as to say that this year "we met the critical needs of the state and we had a balanced budget."
The rollover argument would be more persuasive if the governor hadn't already called two emergency legislative sessions to approve $376-million in extra spending this year for prisons and business recruitment. As such, he seems to be establishing two different standards for mid-year appropriations - one for prisons and business and one for education.
More to the point, the notion that Florida has met its "critical needs" this year will come as a surprise to those who witnessed the fractured debate in the Legislature, as lawmakers adopted a budget only after adjourning their regular session in an impasse. Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, who is line to become the next Senate president, rose to the floor to declare: "I have voted for my last budget in the state of Florida that's put together with Band-Aids and paper clips, where we put Band-Aids on cancers and ignore the realities."
The $541-million is not a federal government windfall, and most of it is expected to become part of the state's income base in succeeding years. In other words, it is precisely the "means" that House Speaker Johnnie Byrd insists the Legislature must live within. In fact, if the Estimating Conference had been able to see more clearly into the crystal ball in March, the money might already have been spent to help hire teachers and child welfare case workers.
So why would lawmakers, faced with indefensible cutbacks this year in education, be willing simply to bank all that money for next year? The likely answer is not fiscal prudence but political expediency. Next year is an election year, and the governor and lawmakers want any extra cash they can spend to keep voters in a good mood when they head to the polls. Having returned to work twice this year to help prisons and businesses, lawmakers are willing to let schoolchildren wait. Maybe the high school seniors who graduate in an election year will have a better chance of getting into college.
