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Shortfall May Boost Democrats

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By CATHERINE DOLINSKI

cdolinski@tampatrib.com

Published: February 13, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - Some Democratic lawmakers hope that Florida's share of the federal stimulus package will give them a powerful advantage during state budget negotiations this spring.

That's because using a chunk of those dollars to patch the state's shrinking $65 billion budget may require a supermajority vote, owing to state constitutional restrictions on how lawmakers can spend temporary sources of revenue.

"That gives us a negotiating advantage that we Democrats have never had since I've been in the Florida Legislature," said Rep. Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, who has been in the House since 2002.

Voters passed a constitutional provision in 2006 that bars the Legislature from using one-time, nonrecurring dollars to cover more than 3 percent of the state's recurring, annual expenses. Breaking that rule requires a three-fifths vote in both the House and Senate.

It remains unclear how much stimulus money Florida will receive, or how much flexibility it will have in spending it. But with the state still facing a deficit of up to $700 million this fiscal year and $5 billion next year, many lawmakers believe that temporary dollars - whether from Washington or other sources - will have to plug more than 3 percent of the state's recurring budget.

"I believe it's highly likely that we will exceed the 3 percent cap in almost any scenario we might contemplate," Senate Ways and Means Chairman JD Alexander, R-Winter Haven, said this week.

That means that, unlike past years, lawmakers would have to cast a three-fifths vote to approve the budget, he said.

The GOP currently holds a three-fifths majority in both the House and Senate - but just barely, with four extra votes in the House and two extra in the Senate. If any Republicans threaten to vote no, Democrats' votes will come into play.

Several Republicans on Alexander's Ways and Means committee raised objections Monday to using federal stimulus dollars to shore up recurring annual state spending.

Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee predicted a few GOP members will reject this year's spending plan. "It will give us leverage, and we will be in a position to negotiate the budget much more than we have in the past," he said.

During last month's special budget-cutting session, House Minority Leader Franklin Sands complained that Democrats were left out of negotiations. Wednesday, however, Sands downplayed the strategic significance of a supermajority budget vote this spring.

Democrats, he said, are already "cautiously optimistic" that recent changes in House leadership are yielding a more inclusive approach. "I'm hopeful that we will be able to work in a bipartisan fashion so that we don't have to get into playing ... hardball," said Sands, D-Weston. "We'd rather play nice."

Rep. Dean Cannon, in line to become House speaker, chairs a strategic and economic planning committee and said the staggering budget hole the state now faces "is a much bigger issue than regional rivalries and partisan rancor."

"I'm hopeful that Democrats - and all members - will be willing to go about it in a statesmanlike way," said Cannon, R-Winter Park. "A problem this big is not going to be helped by fighting."

Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382.

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