State: Republicans rap governor's technology plan

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush's plan to merge all state computer purchases into a powerful technology office encountered sharp criticism Wednesday from his fellow Republicans in the Legislature.

The Republican-controlled Legislative Budget Commission delayed a vote on moving 1,800 positions and $244-million to the state technology office. The commission, which okays spending changes in the middle of a budget year, also debated the growing possibility that services may have to be cut in the coming months because of sluggish tax collections.

The criticism of the state technology office comes at an especially difficult time. Director Roy Cales, a rising star in the Bush administration, was put on paid administrative leave last week while police investigate allegations that he forged a signature in seeking a $35,000 bank loan in Tallahassee in 1996.

In Cales' absence, acting technology officer Kim Bahrami withstood the criticism and told lawmakers: "I will agree, we have not done the best job of keeping the members of the House and Senate up to date."

Sen. Lisa Carlton, R-Sarasota, the new chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said it was "amazing" that more than a year after lawmakers approved the idea of a central computer agency, a detailed plan for implementing it still does not exist.

"I don't know that you're going to satisfy the members of this committee that we have to move forward on this issue," Carlton said.

Bush, Florida's first "e-governor," is passionate about linking the data systems at the 14 agencies under his control into one central system, including a uniform method of buying computers.

Democrats attacked the very concept of a technology "czar" itself. "I'm very concerned that we're creating a monster here that in the long run will serve us very badly," said Sen. Tom Rossin, D-West Palm Beach.

"I don't think anybody wants to derail the program," Senate Minority Leader Jim King, R-Jacksonville, said later. "But we see bits and pieces of a road map that has no destination. We're not just going to accept it on rote."

Bush's spokeswoman, Liz Hirst, said the governor was comfortable with the lawmakers' decision to wait for a detailed plan on the technology project. "That plan is in the works, and we're moving forward with it," Hirst said.

Bureaucrats were the ones on the firing line, but the criticism was clearly aimed at Bush. Senators chided Peggy Ball, chief of staff at the Department of Corrections, after the agency rewrote a contract with Corrections Corp. of America to add 96 beds for women inmates before asking lawmakers to approve the $1.4-million expense.

"I think it's time that executive branch agencies quit the notion that they cam thumb their nose at the Florida Legislature," Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Palm Harbor, told Ball. "The Legislature is given the responsibility in Florida's Constitution to appropriate the money, and at least this senator is going to stand up to that responsibility, no matter who is involved."

Anger over the latest round of budget vetoes continues to fester in the Senate weeks after Bush torpedoed $290-million worth of lawmakers' projects.

Bush remains upbeat about Florida's fiscal future, but he has taken the unusual step of holding back 1 percent of state agencies' quarterly spending allocations, in case the tax picture worsens.

But Democrats are eager to say "I told you so" if Bush and his Republican allies in the Legislature have to slash services after they reduced taxes by $175-million. "Are those tax refunds being cut as well?" Sen. Ron Silver, D-North Miami Beach, asked Thursday.

Rossin said a special session of the Legislature was a real possibility, noting a section in state law requiring that step when a budget shortfall exceeds 1.5 percent of general tax revenue.

Rossin, who has been highly critical of Bush's fiscal policies, urged immediate attention to address the shortfalls. But Rep. Carlos Lacasa, the Miami Republican who heads the budget commission, urged caution until after the next set of revenue numbers in September.

Ironically, the uneasiness about the state budget is surfacing on the eve of a nine-day sales tax holiday in which consumers can avoid paying the sales tax on many back-to-school clothing items. State tax coffers are expected to be $30-million lighter as a result.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk