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Spending $2.2-billion: Growth? Tax cuts?

House leaders want to save some of the budget windfall and spend on public projects while the Senate president wants to pay for growth needs.

By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published April 13, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Florida taxpayers have handed a big fat check to the Legislature, and now lawmakers have to decide what to do with it.

Let the horse trading begin.

An unprecedented $2.2-billion windfall in tax collections, produced by a hot real estate market and steady job growth, represents a stack of betting chips in the annual high-stakes poker game between the House and Senate over spending.

Both chambers are controlled by Republicans, but they have different priorities when it comes to spending taxpayers' money. On Tuesday, the day after the size of the windfall became fully clear, the two sides asserted conflicting positions.

The House favors public schools, tax cuts, water projects in lawmakers' home districts and putting some money in the bank. The Senate prefers human services and the first down payment on an estimated $35-billion deficit over 10 years in catching up with the costs of growth, mainly through roads, schools and water and sewer improvements.

Throughout Florida's history, legislative leaders have brokered deals. Both sides posture in public and cut deals in private, and in the end, each side usually gets part of what it wants.

But House Speaker Allan Bense, R-Panama City, said he did not favor the traditional game of trading, say, tax cuts for road construction.

"That's trading public policy for public policy," Bense said. "I want to try to dissect each area of public policy and see where we have differences and where we have agreements."

He added: "There's nothing wrong with saving some of that money. There's nothing wrong with giving some of that money back in the form of tax cuts. And there's certainly nothing wrong with putting that money into our infrastructure, as well."

Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, wants to allocate the entire $2.2-billion for growth-related needs. Rep. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, the House's chief budget writer, said he supports allocating $400-million to $500-million for growth, while saving much of the rest.

Negron, who is likely to face a Republican primary challenge in his race for attorney general next year, said he was reluctant to spend every dollar in the treasury.

"It's going to be hard for us to call ourselves fiscal conservatives if we're spending every penny that's available" Negron said.

While the House and Senate jockey for position, interest groups are demanding some of the money. They may be disappointed by the reaction they get.

For example, nursing home operators and a coalition of House Republicans on Tuesday urged an increase in state funding for Medicaid nursing home patients.

Rep. Frank Farkas, R-St. Petersburg, joined with nursing home operators in asking for an increase in reimbursement rates to nursing homes that care for Medicaid recipients.

"It's not on my priority list," Negron said when told of the nursing homes' request. "The idea that we're going to go open up the state budget and start revisiting all of the decisions we made - I don't think that's a good idea."

Gov. Jeb Bush has the power to veto legislative spending, but for now he is a bystander in the allocation game. Bush backs Lee's efforts to play catchup with Florida's growth deficit. But he said it may be possible to save a chunk of the new money because it's impossible to spend the money on construction as fast as it comes in.

"I think we can do both, frankly," Bush said. "You can't spend, from a standing start, all of the money that's necessary to spend for the construction of roads, for example. So maybe we set aside money for this year and next."

[Last modified April 13, 2005, 01:29:17]