State: Budget cuts could nick elderly, poor

TALLAHASSEE -- Programs supporting drug help for the elderly, school lunches for poor kids and chaplains for state prisoners could become casualties of a budget hole worsened by last month's terrorist attacks.

Those are just some of the suggestions state agencies floated in reports -- due Monday -- that outline possible budget cuts in preparation for a special session of the Legislature, expected later this month.

Others include disqualifying adults from Medicaid's Medically Needy program, eliminating some substance abuse treatments for prisoners and trimming funding for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship program.

"This is a pretty tough budget year, and it's gotten tougher," Juvenile Justice Secretary Bill Bankhead said.

Not all the suggestions will be approved. But Gov. Jeb Bush spoke Monday of the need for a "reprioritization" of the state budget in light of the effects the terrorist attacks have had on the economy. As a sign of what he called "good faith" to his critics, Bush said he's willing to drop a third round of cuts in Florida's intangibles tax to help balance the budget.

"Everything ought to be on the table," Bush said. "We're trying to create consensus, and I think it's better to build that consensus rather than to have strongly held views at this time. I've got strongly held views but I'm willing to show good faith to everybody."

The economy already was slowing before the attacks, and the state was looking at a shortfall, but Bush and Republican legislative leaders said that could have been handled with existing reserves. But faced with tax receipt projections that have dropped precipitously since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Bush said Saturday he thinks the state will have to cut at least $1-billion from this year's budget.

Education, once considered off limits, could see significant cuts, especially in the state university system.

University of Florida officials say another 5 percent reduction -- the amount legislative leaders asked agencies to find -- would force them to cut $9-million from instruction and research. They also would carve $2.7-million from library resources and about $13-million from the university's health sciences center.

The cuts aren't specific; officials say they haven't determined how many courses would be canceled or whether fewer professors would be hired.

"(But) the university would have to cut into our educational core and mission-critical programs," UF provost David Colburn said in a recent memo to the university's board of trustees. "None of these are cuts we would want to make and we don't think they are in the best interests of the state."

Kindergarten through grade 12 wasn't spared, either, according to reports filed with the Senate Appropriations Committee. Suggestions for cuts there included a small but significant $1.7-million reduction in the state's share of the school lunch program for low-income students. But education officials warned in their report that eliminating that state portion means kids will miss out on the federal matching money, too.

Officials with the Agency for Health Care Administration have suggested, with reservations, that the state disqualify adults from the Medically Needy program of Medicaid. The state started that program in 1986 to help people who suffered a catastrophic illness and didn't have insurance or exhausted their benefits. Pregnant women and children still would qualify for the program, but health officials warned that hospitals will be forced to absorb the costs when those disqualified become sick or injured.

A program to help some elderly poor pay their pharmacy bills also was suggested for possible elimination.

In addition to preparing proposed budget cuts, Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Bankhead said his department had come up with a way of increasing its revenue by $15.8-million. For example, he wants to ask the Legislature to require county governments to pay part of the cost of juvenile detention centers. A wider program he proposed last year was shot down in the legislative process, after strong opposition from the counties.

Amy Baker, the Department of Children and Families' chief financial officer, said the department would save about $19-million because of the closing of G. Pierce Wood Hospital, a mental health facility in DeSoto County that serves roughly one-fourth of the state, including the Tampa Bay area. The closing has been in the works for more than a year.

Environmental advocates fear that lawmakers will repeat themselves this year and raid environmental programs, but Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Kathalyn Gaither said the DEP is determined to fight for every penny for the Everglades and Florida Forever conservation programs during the session.

- Times staff writers Steve Bousquet, Barry Klein, Curtis Krueger and Craig Pittman contributed to this report, which includes information from the Associated Press.

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