State budget cut deep, broadly
The House and Senate agree on ways to trim $1-billion in state spending.
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Published September 28, 2007
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida lawmakers Thursday dished up an array of spending cuts, cash transfers and the elimination of hundreds of vacant jobs to plug a billion-dollar hole in the current $72-billion state budget.
Health care programs would be reduced $214-million, public schools $138-million, community colleges and universities $125-million, and prisons $70-million under a House proposal to be voted on in a special session next week.
The House and Senate also plan to increase tuition by 5 percent at community colleges and state universities in January to offset some cuts, again risking a veto by Gov. Charlie Crist.
Many other smaller proposed cuts were recommended by state agencies that were ordered to find ways to get by with 4 percent less than they began the fiscal year with on July 1.
In the name of efficiencies, lawmakers are poised to eliminate 57 vacancies in the Florida Highway Patrol, reduce drug and alcohol treatment for prison inmates by $3-million, take away up to half of state funding for the Johnnie Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Institute in Tampa, and lay off four employees in the Office of Efficient Government.
It is a tense moment for the Legislature, which now must slash some popular programs soon after a judge blocked its property tax relief proposal from going before voters because it was misleading and confusing.
In addition, lawmakers are under pressure to extend the state's no-fault car insurance system, scheduled to expire Monday. Legislators are expected to address a proposed bill to save personal injury protection in the coming special session.
Some Democrats say deal done in the dark
Working informally for the past couple of weeks, House and Senate budget writers drafted very similar lists of cuts that were presented in public for the first time.
"I think it's a very fair, reasonable, fair, well-thought-out proposal," said Rep. Ray Sansom, R-Destin, chairman of the House Policy and Budget Council. "I think we accomplished what the people of Florida expected us to."
Democratic lawmakers said they resented how the proposed cuts were arrived at -- by a few key Republican lawmakers and their staffs making decisions with no public input and offering up their recommendations as a finished product ready for a vote.
"It was very general, very vague," said Rep. Jack Seiler, a key Democrat on the House budget council.
"It's a troubling trend. We seem to be doing more and more activity in the shadows, in the dark."
Democrats, however, are powerless to change the course of events in the budget cut debate, because they are a distinct minority in both houses.
Republicans hold an advantage of 26-14 in the Senate and 77-42 in the House, where one seat is currently vacant.
Republicans said that even after the cuts to public schools, the per-pupil spending increase is more than 5 percent, at a time when K-12 student enrollment is flat.
"That's a number that I believe school districts can absorb," Rep. Joe Pickens, R-Palatka, said of the $138-million reduction.
In reality, the House's cut to schools is $411-million, but the immediate cut is lessened by shifting $125-million from reserves into the K-12 budget and by deferring a $147-million teacher bonus program until 2008.
The $411-million figure matters, Pickens said, because the base budget for schools for the 2008-09 fiscal year will be that much less than it was July 1.
Third special session to begin Wednesday
The third special session of the year will begin Wednesday and last through Oct. 12.
House and Senate negotiators hope to settle their differences by Oct. 8 in time to print a new budget with the cuts.
Once agreed to, the budget can't be changed, and Crist can veto line items in it.
Under the state Constitution, the final budget must be on lawmakers' desks for 72 hours before a final vote, meaning it must be printed no later than Tuesday, Oct. 9, for the session to adjourn on time.
Staff writers Alex Leary and Jennifer Liberto contributed to this report. Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263.
Controversial cutsHere are among some proposed budget cuts that prompted debate Thursday in the House Policy and Budget Council. No votes were taken, and the cuts may be changed,
Program Amount Reduce state growth management fund $30-million Reduce prescription drug costs $17-million Cut funding to Johnnie Byrd Alzheimer's Institute $7.5-million Eliminate 57 vacant state trooper positions $4.6-million Cut substance abuse treatment for prison inmates $3-million Eliminate Office of Efficient Government $1.4-million Reduce child support enforcement $1-million Eliminate 7 jobs in Environmental Outreach Office $450,000 Eliminate 7 jobs in Office of Supplier Diversity $285,000 Source: House of Representatives