The headlines throughout the state focus on the numbers: a $1.6 billion combined proposal to cut property and corporate income taxes in one year. 8,700 state jobs cut. $703 million less for K-12 education (and over $3 billion overall to education). $668 million cut from the Department of Community Affairs (where the staffing would go from 358 employees to 40). $178.5 from the Department of Children and Families.
Rick Scott's budget that he released yesterday has unleashed a torrent of criticisms from Democrats and progressives throughout the state, but what everyone needs to realize is that these are his proposals, and that the Florida Legislature will ultimately vote on the final budget.
Yes, the GOP Legislature is heavily Republican, but that doesn't mean at all that they're on the same page with Governor Scott. Yes, most members do agree on spending cuts being the number one way to reduce the $3.6 billion budget, but that doesn't mean they're going to agree on the specifics.
Check out this comment from arguably one of the most powerful men in state government, Senate President Mike Haridopolos:
“It’s impressive that after one month on the job Governor Scott has prepared a comprehensive budget so quickly. The Senate is dedicated to working with the Governor to provide a balanced budget with no new taxes. The best way to improve the business environment in Florida is to keep taxes low and live within our means. We will do that. I also thank Governor Scott for unveiling his proposed budget directly to the people so that he can get feedback from the citizens of Florida."
Translation? The best I can do is praise the Governor for producing his constitutional duty to prepare a budget a month into the job.
When you're in the opposition party, you don't have to be politically correct. Florida Democratic Party Chair Rod Smith called Scott's budget a "frontal assault" on the quality of life for every Floridian," adding, "it will not create a single job nor spur our economy forward; instead it takes us further into the economic ditch."
But at least Scott's staying true to his words on the campaign trail, right? Uh, not exactly. The Miami Herald's Marc Caputo reports that Scott committed four flip-flops yesterday:
First, school spending. On Thursday, he said he would essentially hold schools harmless and keep "school budgets the same." False. On Monday, his budget showed overall state spending on all education would be $4.8 billion less, and that per-student K-12 spending would be $703 lower (a 10 percent reduction).
"It's not going back on anything I promised," Scott insisted Monday. "What I said throughout the campaign and what I'm saying today is we're not cutting any money that came out of the state general revenue — we're not cutting that. Any money that relied on federal bail-outs, that was different."
None of the reporters who covered his campaign could remember this "general-revenue" distinction he insisted on drawing Monday. The only time "general revenue" was mentioned in relation to his tax-cut plan and his tax-cut plan was in a July Palm Beach Post article that said "Scott says a larger share of sales taxes and other general revenue would be shifted to schools to avoid a reduction in education spending."
This article appears in Feb 3-9, 2011.