Politics

$5.5-billion temptation

By Steve Bousquet, Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Published March 10, 2008

With Florida government facing a $2.5-billion budget deficit next year, a major philosophical split has emerged among Republicans in Tallahassee. Gov. Charlie Crist wants to minimize spending cuts by raiding the state's $5.5-billion piggy bank, where multiple pots of cash are stored, mostly for emergencies or for specific uses. But Senate President Ken Pruitt and House Speaker Marco Rubio consider it fiscally unwise because the "rainy day funds" can be spent only once and the same expenses will remain next year. A look at the four reserve accounts and their balances as of today:

Lawton Chiles Endowment

$2.4-billion

Established by the Legislature after the 1997 settlement with tobacco companies. By law it can be used only for health programs. State has spent interest from the fund, but never principal. Crist wants to spend $400-million of principal next year.

Trust fund reserves

$916-million

Taxes and fees dedicated to specific programs, from affordable housing to land conservation to road building. Crist would divert $740-million of trust fund reserves, but many lawmakers strongly oppose it.

Budget Stabilization Fund

$1.4-billion

Set up after Hurricane Andrew, the money can be used only in fiscal emergencies, such as after hurricanes and operating deficits. Withdrawals require a super-majority vote of the Legislature and must be repaid within three years. Crist has not proposed tapping this fund.

Working capital fund

$806-million

The fund, like the balance kept in a personal checking account to avoid overdrafts, will shrink to $100-million or less after Tuesday's new revenue estimate. That's the equivalent of small change in a $70-billion budget.

[Last modified March 10, 2008, 00:30:48]