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Russell, GOP vote for budget
By DAN DeWITT
© St. Petersburg Times, BROOKSVILLE -- Rep. David Russell seems to have twice changed his mind on the intangibles tax -- the most divisive issue of a divisive special session that ended Tuesday. Before the session started, the Brooksville Republican said he continued to support a break on the tax, which is levied on stocks and bonds; it was approved during this year's regular session, sacrificing about $128-million in revenue. Halfway through the special session, he said the House would probably delay the tax cut in an effort to balance the budget. The session had been called to deal with an estimated $1.3-billion budget deficit. "I think it would be reasonable and responsible to postpone the intangibles tax cut," Russell said then. He also said he was one of several House Republicans who advocated that position to House Speaker Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo. But on Wednesday, along with every other Republican, he voted for a House budget, which he acknowledged was flawed, that included the tax cut. "It was based on a fairly optimistic economic forecast, but given the worst-case scenario, economically, there is a hole in the budget you can drive a truck through," he said. In fact, he said, he didn't change his mind a second time. He still supports postponing the intangibles tax. He voted for the budget, he said, because it is generally fair, though it probably does not adequately trim spending. He didn't vote to eliminate the tax break because Feeney and other House leaders didn't introduce such a vote. "The budget I voted for was less aggressive in its budget cuts with concern to education and health care" than the one the House originally proposed, he said. "In essence, we adopted the Senate budget in its entirety." Except that the Senate version eliminated the break on the intangibles tax, said state Sen. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville. "They did not take out the intangibles tax cut and right away, there's a $130-million fund," she said. As a result, both she and Russell said, legislators will probably be called back to Tallahassee for another special session to address budget shortfalls. Also, Brown-Waite said the Senate's budget probably didn't trim enough. It was meant as a starting point. "It was a decent budget," she said, "but it would have been improved by a conference committee." These committees, made of House and Senate members, almost always determine the final legislative budget. That didn't hap- pen this time because after Feeney pushed through the House's version, he adjourned the House. Senate President John McKay called the action, and the House budget, irresponsible. Brown-Waite said Feeney's actions may hurt his own constituents. The budget includes some severe cuts in the Orlando area. Hernando County does not seem to be particularly hard hit. Neither the county nor the city of Brooksville lost any of the state grants they had received. The schools will receive about $1-million less than anticipated, but this is a far smaller cut than the House originally proposed. The county will almost certainly have to pick up a larger share of programs, including Medicaid, that it shares with the state, said County Administrator Paul McIntosh, though the exact amounts are not known. "It hasn't filtered down to us from a dollars and cents standpoint," he said, "though naturally, we don't think the way to solve the state's budget problem is to shift costs to the county."
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From today's Hernando Times |
