Lawmakers ready for budget session


Sunday, January 04, 2009

By Paul Flemming - Florida Today

TALLAHASSEE—Brevard lawmakers will come to the Capitol on Monday ready to balance the budget, as constitutionally required, and determined to take on systemic changes to state spending.

Immediately at issue is a $2.3 billion shortfall in tax revenue that needs to be plugged before the end of Florida’s fiscal year June 30. Gov. Charlie Crist has his own proposal that includes $562 million in spending cuts, $925 million pulled from trust funds and $314 million in borrowing for prison construction.

House Speaker Ray Sansom and Senate President Jeff Atwater have said the $135 million Crist counts on from a court-rejected deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida is off the table for the special session scheduled to last until Jan. 16.

“There is a framework. That part has been agreed upon by leadership in each house and the governor,” said Rep. Ralph Poppell, a Vero Beach Republican who serves District 29 in Brevard and Indian River counties. “The rest of our job is to come in and piece that all together.”

Poppell and Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, are veteran lawmakers. Brevard’s other state senator, Viera Republican Thad Altman, has moved to the upper chamber after five years in the House.

Three local House members, though, are freshmen facing a quick introduction to state budgeting. Reps. Steve Crisafulli, John Tobia and Ritch Workman have leaned on other delegation members for perspective.

For Altman, that means putting the cuts into context.

“I was first elected in 2003, when the state’s budget was $47 billion. We’ll walk out of (special session) with a budget that’s still going to be more than $60 billion,” Altman said. “Though we’re going to have to make serious cuts, it’s not quite as bleak as it looks. We can make it work and provide basic services.”

For the $361 million cuts to K-12 education, lawmakers said they’ll work to remove the shackles of spending mandates—specific appropriations for textbooks, transportation, class-size requirements—from local districts to protect classroom instruction from cuts. The Department of Education estimates that Brevard schools face $9.8 million in cuts.

“Only the district knows how best to use its money,” said Crisafulli, a Merritt Island Republican. “I don’t know that the Department of Education in Tallahassee can standardize how to budget for each district.”

Space Coast lawmakers said the long-term solution lies in the work that begins now on government efficiency and economic development: There’s a provision for the special session to consider a $10 million pilot program for small-business loans.

“We’ve got to go up there and not point fingers. It’s a nonpartisan issue,” Tobia said. “We have to plan for the worst and then work to stimulate the state economy internally.”

That’s Workman’s priority.

“The No. 1 thing on my mind ... is to get the economy rolling again,” Workman said. “We don’t want to find ourselves in a downward trend when the shuttle program ends.”

Haridopolos, who is in line to be Senate president in 2010, is on a select committee charged with addressing the state’s economy, including producing proposals and legislation for the spring’s regular legislative session and matching spending to revenue.

“It means some of the programs we’ve funded are no longer going to be funded,” Haridopolos said. “Agencies have to understand the difference between what you want to spend money on and what you can afford to spend money on. At the end of the day, you have to balance the budget.”

Contact Flemming at 850-508-1740 or