Government
Capitol Roundup: Budget Impasse? Courting Change
Recap and analysis of the week in state government
Around the State
Peeps and other Easter confections will be half price or off the shelves completely when House and Senate negotiators sit down to begin hammering out their differences between two competing budget plans.
Talks appeared to break down this week before they even began.
More than $3 billion apart, chamber leaders this week all but conceded that the session might go beyond the May 6 scheduled end, with conference committees now not scheduled to even start until April 25 at the earliest. That would give legislators two weeks to hammer out a compromise, assuming they don’t do any work during the Easter-Passover off week.
And Gov. Rick Scott on Friday threw a new egg into the hunt: he essentially said he wouldn’t sign a budget that doesn’t include tax cuts, which legislative leaders have been reluctant to include. Already pressed to fill a nearly $4 billion gap, both chambers’ leaders said they would love tax cuts, but that they couldn’t really figure out how to do it. In his weekly radio address on Friday, Scott essentially said they better find a way.
“I will not compromise on these principles,” of having a smaller budget, a smaller government – both of those are going to be delivered – and tax cuts, Scott said.
Putting budget building on the fast track during the session’s first half, maybe leaders had a clue that crafting a spending blueprint would be more difficult than usual even with a veto-proof majority in both chambers and an electorate seemingly willing to do less with less.
With a $3.75 billion shortfall and the faces of those whose lives will be affected by cuts showing up at committee hearings, House and Senate negotiators find themselves $3 billion apart and unable to decide where to begin.
“Unfortunately, we’re not quite as far along as we would like to be,” Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, told members of his Budget Committee this week. “The president has worked very diligently but we’re not ready to begin conference as yet.”
House Speaker Dean Cannon sent a memo to members urging them not to make plans for the period in early May right after when the session would normally end.
There are significant gaps to reconcile between the $66.5 billion House blueprint and the Senate's $69.8 billion measure. The House would require workers to kick in 3 percent of their income regardless of their earnings to bolster their pensions. The Senate plan would set different charges on different levels of income, ranging from 2 percent on the first $25,000 of pay to 6 percent on any pay above $50,000.
The House proposal sweeps $330 million from the State Transportation Trust Fund -- a seemingly annual battle with the Senate.
Those are just some of the most closely watched differences, there are plenty of others more obscure -- from how to deal with water management district revenue to whether to remove the clerks of courts from the general revenue budget.
“It’s a hard year and we’re a long way apart,” said Rep. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, the House budget chairwoman. “It might take a little longer than normal, but we’ll get there. It’s moving along.”
Despite impasse over next year’s spending, budget makers were able to help Scott on at least one front this week by allowing the governor to maintain payments to those who provide services through the State Transportation Trust Fund. Prompted by budget constraints, Scott had issued an executive order to cut provider rates by 15 percent to fill a $174 million deficit. Lawmakers found the money, however, to make up the deficit and Scott was able to rescind the edict.
Lawmakers also got a boost from BP Oil, which announced another $30 million to help Northwest Florida dig itself out of the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Scott said the money will be used by Panhandle counties to get the word out that Florida’s beaches are clean and the fish are biting.
UNEMPLOYMENT DROPPING
The governor was able to deliver some good news, announcing Friday that Florida's unemployment rate fell in March to 11.1 percent, from 11.5 percent in February, and reaching the lowest it’s been in over a year. That was good news enough to prompt Scott to make the announcement in person instead of letting the state labor agency simply make its usual electronic data release.
Talks appeared to break down this week before they even began.
More than $3 billion apart, chamber leaders this week all but conceded that the session might go beyond the May 6 scheduled end, with conference committees now not scheduled to even start until April 25 at the earliest. That would give legislators two weeks to hammer out a compromise, assuming they don’t do any work during the Easter-Passover off week.
And Gov. Rick Scott on Friday threw a new egg into the hunt: he essentially said he wouldn’t sign a budget that doesn’t include tax cuts, which legislative leaders have been reluctant to include. Already pressed to fill a nearly $4 billion gap, both chambers’ leaders said they would love tax cuts, but that they couldn’t really figure out how to do it. In his weekly radio address on Friday, Scott essentially said they better find a way.
“I will not compromise on these principles,” of having a smaller budget, a smaller government – both of those are going to be delivered – and tax cuts, Scott said.
Putting budget building on the fast track during the session’s first half, maybe leaders had a clue that crafting a spending blueprint would be more difficult than usual even with a veto-proof majority in both chambers and an electorate seemingly willing to do less with less.
With a $3.75 billion shortfall and the faces of those whose lives will be affected by cuts showing up at committee hearings, House and Senate negotiators find themselves $3 billion apart and unable to decide where to begin.
“Unfortunately, we’re not quite as far along as we would like to be,” Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, told members of his Budget Committee this week. “The president has worked very diligently but we’re not ready to begin conference as yet.”
House Speaker Dean Cannon sent a memo to members urging them not to make plans for the period in early May right after when the session would normally end.
There are significant gaps to reconcile between the $66.5 billion House blueprint and the Senate's $69.8 billion measure. The House would require workers to kick in 3 percent of their income regardless of their earnings to bolster their pensions. The Senate plan would set different charges on different levels of income, ranging from 2 percent on the first $25,000 of pay to 6 percent on any pay above $50,000.
The House proposal sweeps $330 million from the State Transportation Trust Fund -- a seemingly annual battle with the Senate.
Those are just some of the most closely watched differences, there are plenty of others more obscure -- from how to deal with water management district revenue to whether to remove the clerks of courts from the general revenue budget.
“It’s a hard year and we’re a long way apart,” said Rep. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, the House budget chairwoman. “It might take a little longer than normal, but we’ll get there. It’s moving along.”
Despite impasse over next year’s spending, budget makers were able to help Scott on at least one front this week by allowing the governor to maintain payments to those who provide services through the State Transportation Trust Fund. Prompted by budget constraints, Scott had issued an executive order to cut provider rates by 15 percent to fill a $174 million deficit. Lawmakers found the money, however, to make up the deficit and Scott was able to rescind the edict.
Lawmakers also got a boost from BP Oil, which announced another $30 million to help Northwest Florida dig itself out of the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Scott said the money will be used by Panhandle counties to get the word out that Florida’s beaches are clean and the fish are biting.
UNEMPLOYMENT DROPPING
The governor was able to deliver some good news, announcing Friday that Florida's unemployment rate fell in March to 11.1 percent, from 11.5 percent in February, and reaching the lowest it’s been in over a year. That was good news enough to prompt Scott to make the announcement in person instead of letting the state labor agency simply make its usual electronic data release.
Comments (0)