State: Democrats pepper Bush over budget deficit

Senate Democratic Leader Tom Rossin of Royal Palm Beach said Republican Gov. Jeb Bush's "willful mismanagement" led to a $673-million shortfall that existed before the Sept. 11 attacks. Rossin called Bush's handling of Florida's finances "irresponsible" -- the same word he used last May when he was one of only six legislators who voted against the budget.

Rossin even uttered the ultimate taboo in the capital. He said tax increases should be considered before programs are cut.

"I told him I think we have to find some additional revenue sources," said Rossin, as he and Bush emerged from a half-hour meeting. "He said, "Does that mean a tax increase?' I said, "If that's what you want to call it.' "

Rossin's embrace of higher taxes was met with surprise, even by fellow Democrats.

"Is he termed out?" Rep. Bob Henriquez, D-Tampa, said of Rossin, who must leave the Senate next year because of term limits. "There's a political reality. I don't think anybody who plans on being re-elected is going to look at that realistically."

Bush has ruled out any tax increase, including a proposal by Republican Sen. Ken Pruitt to raise school property taxes to avoid spending cuts in education. But the governor is willing to consider delaying another cut in the intangibles tax on stocks, bonds and other investments.

The governor said his willingness to consider the idea is a good-faith gesture of compromise. But he stopped short of supporting a delay in the tax cut. "If this helps give people a sense of sincerity about reaching a consensus on the other difficult choices, I think it ought to be part of the discussion," he said.

Three straight years of intangibles tax cuts have totaled about $658-million, more than the estimated amount of the current year's shortfall.

Bush described the typical beneficiary of the tax break as a retiree living on a fixed income who has $300,000 in savings. "I wouldn't mark that person down as a rich person," he said.

The governor has begun behind-the-scenes negotiating to search for a consensus for what is expected to be a combination of spending cuts, imaginative accounting steps and use of reserve money to close the deficit.

About half of the 43 House Democrats held a strategy session to debate how to shape their argument before the special session. They debated how to score partisan points over the state's economic plight without appearing unpatriotic or excessively partisan.

"We are not going to be more than a token player in this game, at all," said Rep. Sara Romeo, D-Lutz, "so this is a good opportunity for us to say, in much more polite terms, "I told you so.' We couldn't have scripted it any better for ourselves."

"When the budget was formed, they sure didn't want us to be their partners," said Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton. "We don't want to get sucked in and blamed for this. We don't want to get sucked in, so we're partners on the way down, because of the fact that we would never have done this in the first place."

Rep. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, said Florida Democrats need to find "a message, as a progressive party" that emphasizes the need to create new jobs.

Only six of the 160 legislators, all Democrats, voted against the current budget last May. Three are in the Senate, and three in the House. They are Sens. Daryl Jones of Miami, Ron Klein of Boca Raton and Rossin; and Reps. Susan Bucher of West Palm Beach, Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach and Frederica Wilson of Miami.

For some lawmakers, the very notion of a special session is a strange concept -- so strange that Democratic staffers circulated copies of 10-year-old budget documents and news stories to explain how Florida handled the last special session on the budget in 1991-92.

-- Times researcher Deirdre Morrow contributed to this report.

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