In this season of giving, Florida House Speaker Johnnie Byrd is inspired. But let him tell you in his own words:
"With the holidays upon us," Byrd writes in his weekly newsletter, "many excited children will begin to create "wish lists' for Santa to fill. Knowing that the holidays are a time of giving, we expect children's minds to wander in grand terms. More than just "visions of sugar plums,' children today exact demands for high-tech gadgets, motorized cycles, and real-to-life dolls.
"Life in the Legislature could be almost akin to this when prosperous budget estimates come in. Wish lists get longer. Needs are exchanged for wants. Visions of grand government dance in some heads."
Byrd's holiday topic: New estimates of $541-million in extra state government revenues for this year, of which he says $144-million will recur next year, and a new projected budget surplus of $2-billion.
In this season of government plenty, then, the "excited children" to which Byrd refers must mean the 33,000 poor children who lost their medical care because of budget cuts earlier this year. Or the 35,000 high school graduates who were turned away from community colleges because classes were full. Or the 12,600 disabled adults who are trapped on waiting lists. His mention of children who "exact demands" may be directed at university presidents who have faced $490-million in budgetary cuts over the past dozen years, and, for the past two, added 22,000 new students with no new money. The "visions of sugar plums" might be from school superintendents who are looking for a full financial installment on 16,000 new students not counted in this year's budget.
"At no time is self-control more difficult than in times of success," Byrd writes. "Harnessing the reins of government is most surely needed when the impulse to spend is at its highest. . . . That's the wish list we in the Florida House intend to fill during the coming budget season."
