Opinion: Legislature's efforts on budget are shameful

As juvenile probation officers face overloaded and overburdened caseloads, as school boards panic over what teacher positions and what programs to eliminate, as our seniors and the poor face wiped-out programs and less health care provided by the state due to drastic budget cuts prompted by sales tax shortfalls and the aftereffects of Sept. 11, I find it despicable and disgraceful that even Senate President John McKay placed his own agenda over the welfare of the residents of Florida, by ensuring his tomato research facility in his home county of Manatee was spared the budget-cutting knife. Then there was the sheer audacity of this Legislature to allocate $3-million earlier this year for a monument to themselves and leave it in the budget.

When the Senate president and other state senators put their agenda over the needs of our children, our elderly and our poor simply to show their districts they can take valuable dollars to adorn their own communities, it is both outrageous and incomprehensible to the average Floridian.

No wonder our kids are taught in portables and their FCAT scores are lacking. No wonder juvenile crime in Florida is rising. No wonder our elderly are screaming out for help and our poor have nowhere to turn. Why worry about them? We have tomato research facilities and self-serving monuments that must take priority.

I say to our senators: Shame, shame and more shame.

Our state needs strong leadership and foresight. Our residents need to know that education, health care and juvenile crime are priorities when it comes to appropriations.
Rich Unger, Sarasota

Some cuts planned at ballot box

Re: Budget cuts.

I urge voters to wake up. Florida has deteriorated as a state, not just in education, but in a broad range of "quality of life" indicators. Does anyone truly believe that our education system, which is already starved for resources, won't be hurt by these most recent budget cuts? Can you really think that the children will not be harmed?

Schools and teachers are constantly being blamed for poor education, yet how can they improve when funds are constantly removed from an already overburdened system?

I agree with Jade More, executive director Pinellas County Classroom Teachers Association, that the "progressive" legislators must stop the attack on our school budgets. Employees are being laid off, programs are being canceled and services to students are being disrupted, all to avoid raising taxes and to look good before the public.

Well, guess what? As a parent, I'll be doing some cuts of my own at the ballot box next November. And I urge other citizens to do that same.
Wanda Dow, Dunedin

Thanks are due for budget work

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Gov. Jeb Bush and our lawmakers for the hard work and hard decisions that they had to make on the budget, Since Sept. 11 atacks have taken their toll on our tourist industry and state revenues.

I'm sure they see the negative letters to the editor from so-called leaders and employees of certain agencies (i.e. teachers unions, etc.) who will receive less state money than they had anticipated. One wonders if they passed economics in school? What you don't have, you can't spend

I hope our leaders take this opportunity to look hard at changing our tax revenue system to one that is more stable and fair, so every one shares the burden.

I have heard of a transaction tax, consumption tax, or a flat tax, etc. I'm sure there are ways to create a funding system that gives everyone (even self-employed people working in the underground cash economy) equal responsibility to support Florida's economy. Now is the time to look at this!

Keep up the good leadership, which most of us support. Just remember that belt-tightening is healthy for everyone, government included, to see the need for trimming excess spending. The government, whether it be federal, state or local, needs to stay within its budget. It's something that the average citizen has to do every year!
Robert E. Guthrie, Seminole

Is it ethical to abandon the disabled?

Re: The planned cuts in Florida's Medicaid Medically Needy program.

I have worked as a registered nurse since 1967. I have lived and worked in St. Petersburg since 1974. I have never "lived off the system."

Unfortunately, during the last couple of years I have developed a serious case of osteoarthritis and other problems that forced me into retiring early. I am only 55 years old. My pension is not available to me yet, and I had to file for Social Security Disability. This gave me some income, and I got additional benefits from the Medicaid Medically Needy program. Some nurses work until they are 70, and I was planning on building on my retirement. Unfortunately this is now impossible.

I get $1,000 on SSD. My medications are expensive -- around $800 monthly, but the Medically Needy program pays for these. My eyeglasses are also paid for under this program. I also get a Medicaid bus pass for $4.60 a month as I cannot drive anymore. I live in a HUD apartment building and my rent is reduced to $200. You do the math -- when the state cuts the Medicaid Medically Needy program, how well do you think I'll fare?

There are other people who live in this building who have served this community: a plumber, optometrist, bus driver, waitress, furniture mover, writer, machinist, cashier, bank teller, mail worker, airport worker, construction worker, etc. We are no longer able to work -- many of us volunteer and do what we can. For those of us who have put something into this and other communities, is it ethical to abandon us when we can no longer work due to a disability?
Pat Krenzier, St. Petersburg

Pork should be enumerated

Re: Turkeys survive budget crunch.

The story said that "while slashing some $639-million from education . . . lawmakers shielded millions in hometown projects.

Dominic Calabro, president of Florida TaxWatch, said, "Lawmakers are loathe to give up that which they identify with their own district." The article points out that "to suggest that legislators should sacrifice projects is to change the way things are done in Tallahassee . . ."

I believe that the Times, as the leading newspaper in Florida, should make sure we, the taxpayers, know item for item the pork-barrel money that is doled out by our Florida lawmakers and by those in Washington, D.C., too.

We have a right to know; you have an obligation to do this.
James B. Mitchell, Largo

The cupboard is bare

Re Gov. Jeb Bush's budget cuts.

The minute the state Legislature started talking about cutting funds from certain programs, I knew that there would be howls of protest from certain quarters. Unfortunately, since Sept. 11 there has been a drop in revenues because tourists, who pay a great deal in sales taxes, are afraid to fly here

Grown-ups realize that you can't spend money you don't receive. It seems as though these critics are unaware of what has happened the last three months. Face it, the cupboard is bare. I'm sure Jeb Bush et al. would love to have lots of revenue to spend on education, juvenile crime protection and so forth. Or maybe Janet Reno has a money tree she can pick to pay for all those goodies.
Leonard Martino, Tampa

Bonuses for bankruptcy

Re: Enron and Polaroid bonuses, Business section, Dec. 7.

Let me see if I have this right. Polaroid, a company in bankruptcy, wants to pay its top executives millions in bonuses while at the same time laying off thousands of employees and asking others to pay more for their health benefits. Enron paid some $55-million in bonuses to 500 employees, most of whom are executives. This, of course, is justified by the Enron spokesperson who was quoted as saying that "this is done in every bankruptcy." So these two companies want to reward people for severe mismanagement with huge bonuses

Thank you, St. Petersburg Times, for these two articles. How instructive. At my next job interview I'm going to use what I have learned: "Now let's see, Boss, if I do something in the next year that costs the company and its investors millions of dollars and causes the company to go bankrupt, you will pay me a very large bonus for my great work."

Yeah, I can see that going a long way.
John Atkins, Clearwater

HMO improvements hard to find

Re: Report Funds did lettle to help Medicare benefits, Dec. 5.

The article indicated that HMOs received billions in new funds from Congress to improve benefits and availability for Medicare recipients. Congressional auditors reported that little of the money (29 percent) was used to improve benefits or to lure health plans back to areas and members they had abandoned

Most, if not all, of the few HMOS left in our area, did not improve benefits from these new billions. Instead, some increased their members' co-payments for some basic services from 50 percent to as much as 350 percent for 2002. One really has to wonder what all those billions were used for and why still more millions in increased co-payments were needed.

Unfortunately, in the letter that recently went out to thousands of bay area HMO members informing them of their 2002 coverages and co-payments, not a single reason, justification or explanation was offered. What a really great attitude for an industry that already has a huge PR problem.
John Farnham, St. Petersburg

An earnest public servant

Re: Judgment turns on keen eye for details, Nov. 27.

Congratulations to Elijah Gosier for recognizing in Michael Andrews not only a fine jurist but also a great human being. As a new assistant state attorney in the Pinellas County State Attorney's Office in August 1992, I had the good fortune of being assigned to the misdemeanor division in which Judge Andrews was the lead trial assistant

Historically, when a prosecutor earned the LTA position, it usually meant a respite from the usual heavy caseload. The division's six junior prosecutors were expected to carry the burden of daily prosecutorial tasks. As the new kid on the block, I would often arrive at the office at 7 a.m. and remain until 7 p.m. Despite the fact that Mike Andrews was an LTA, he would always be working at his desk when I arrived and still be working in the evening when I left. When I finally pointed out to him that he had earned his right to arrive late and leave early, he balked and stated that he would always have to work harder and longer than his colleagues. He never wanted his achievements to be based on the color of his skin but rather on the fruits of his hard work.

He was an extraordinary mentor for me and helped shape the way I practice law. Despite the heady achievement of being Florida's youngest judge, Michael Andrews still remains a humble, earnest public servant. His work ethic and integrity are beyond reproach and should be emulated by every member of the Bar.
Elizabeth Hittos, Holiday

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