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Senate leader: Tax cuts must wait

Senate President Tom Lee says concerns such as a projected deficit rule out tax cuts.

By ALISA ULFERTS
Published February 11, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Crumbling roads, crowded schools and chronic deficits should take precedent over another round of tax cuts, Senate President Tom Lee said Thursday.

It was Lee's strongest call yet for lawmakers to look beyond this year's flush state coffers to 2008, when the state is projected to face a $2-billion deficit.

It also was his latest attempt to temper the tax-cutting culture of the Republican-led Legislature, which already has filed dozens of bills to trim away one tax or eliminate another.

"I'm getting increasingly concerned about projected deficits and deficiencies that begin to show up after my time in the Legislature and particularly in infrastructure," Lee told reporters.

"And before we continue to do more tax cuts, I'd like to know that we have a financial plan of how we're going to invest in Florida's future and how we're going to preserve that future for the next generation," said Lee, R-Brandon.

Long before he became Senate president, Lee was reminding lawmakers of the state's obligation to provide adequate roads, schools and other infrastructure. A home builder, Lee touts the immediate economic benefit of investing in bricks, mortar and asphalt: local economies are stimulated by government projects, which in turn generate tax revenue for the state. And then there are future benefits, he says, such as attracting more industry to the state.

Lawmakers can't afford to invest in capital projects and cut taxes when major deficits are on the horizon, Lee said. But after several years of budget belt-tightening, Lee acknowledges he has an uphill battle to persuade lawmakers not to use this year's budget windfall to cut taxes.

Fellow Republican Gov. Jeb Bush proposed $285-million in tax cuts when he rolled out his budget plan last month. House Speaker Allan Bense, R-Panama City, supports the tax cuts, though not with the same single-minded zeal of his predecessor, Johnnie Byrd of Plant City.

"He definitely wants tax cuts," said Bense spokesman Towson Fraser. "Exactly which ones and how we do that will depend."

[Last modified February 11, 2005, 00:51:12]