TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

State Budget Fix Likely To Have Far-Reaching Effects

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: January 9, 2009

Preschoolers may find their summer classes a bit more crowded while speeders and other traffic violators can expect to be hit with steeper fines under separate deficit-elimination plans passed Friday by the Florida House and Senate.

Some older residents also may wind up in nursing homes because they cannot get assistance needed to stay in their homes and public employees could face layoffs.

Hospitals, medical research centers, county health departments, public schools, state universities and community colleges will see budget cuts. So will Florida's affordable housing program, prisons, courts, prosecutors and public defenders.

Programs to buy environmentally sensitive lands and protect gopher tortoises and manatees also will be slashed.

And lawmakers aren't even finished.

Joint conference committees will attempt to resolve differences between the chambers before final votes next week to wrap up a special legislative session.

Republicans pushed budget revision bills through both chambers on party line votes. The Senate passed its measure 27-13 with just one Democrat, Sen. Gary Siplin of Orlando, joining the GOP majority. No Democrats voted for the House bill that passed 73-40.

Democrats argued the spending cuts are too deep and that lawmakers should have looked for ways to raise revenues besides increasing traffic fines.

Each chamber's package includes nearly $1 billion in cuts, taps reserves and shifts money within the $66.3 billion budget. Besides the budget revisions, each package includes a series of bills that make policy changes including increases of $10 for all traffic tickets and $25 for speeding 15 to 29 miles per hour over the limit.

Violators also would no longer will get an 18 percent discount on their fines for taking a driver improvement course.

"We have an epidemic of law breakers that are choosing to run red lights because they can, who are choosing to exceed the speed limits at excessive levels of speed ... because they can," said Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Chairman Victor Crist, R-Tampa.

Crist said motorists know fewer police are on the streets due to tight state and local budgets and that current fines are too low to be a deterrent.

The legislation would raise the fine for running a red light to $208, speeding 6-9 mph over the limit to $108, speeding 10 to 14 mph over the limit to $183, speeding 20 to 29 mph over the limit to $258 and most other moving violations to $143.

The higher fines are expected to raise $53 million annually with the proceeds going to the court system.

Education accounts for the biggest share of the budget. State universities and community colleges will be cut by 4 percent and public schools and Florida's voluntary pre-kindergarten program by 2 percent.

The summer pre-kindergarten program, though, will take a bigger hit with two more students added to each class for a maximum of 12 per teacher. Senate Prekindergarten-12 Appropriations Chairman Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville, called that a reasonable increase, but Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston, disagreed.

"You can't replace a year in a child's life," Rich said. "Each day in a child's education and development is critical."

Besides spending cuts, the House and Senate plans each would tap reserves and shift or borrow money from state trust funds to help pay for day-to-day expenses.

Both would plug a forecast $2.3 billion hole in the budget. But the House plan would add a $534 million cushion in case revenue again falls even shorter than expected before the end of the budget year on June 30.

Senate Ways and Means Chairman JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said the padding is unnecessary because lawmakers can deal with additional shortfalls when their regular session begins in March. By then, a federal stimulus package also may be sending aid to cash-strapped states.

"There's just so many unknown factors," Alexander said. "We don't know what the stimulus package is, we don't know whether the economy will continue to sag."

The Senate, meanwhile, reversed course Friday and removed a provision that would have cut salaries of teachers and other school employees in districts that find themselves unable to pay bills or make payroll.

Instead, the state would create financial emergency boards to help find other ways to keep troubled districts solvent.

The Florida Education Association, the statewide teachers union, objected to the forced pay cuts on grounds they would have violated constitutional contract guarantees and collective bargaining rights.

The House had a similar provision but amended it during floor debate Thursday to exempt teachers. It would go into effect if a district's cash balance falls under 2 percent of its general fund budget.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT