Special Legislative Session "C"-2001

Check the new WhoseFlorida for updates

The Florida Legislature was called into special session to address the estimated $1.3 billion revenue shortfall - the House, the Senate and the Administration couldn't get it together - so they came back (at $40,000/day) - Special Session "C".
Result: $1 Billion dollars cut from FY 2001 budget 
with more to come in January...

When smaller means bigger
The state budget, now balanced by reducing it by more than a billion dollars, is larger by nearly $60 million than it was before the special 10-day session started.

Sierra Club Report #2 12/4/01

ACLU legislative update

Sierra Club's Tallahassee Report on the legislative special session

Democratic plan to restore budget for public education, health care, public safety

THE MESSAGE HASN'T CHANGED - THERE ARE OPTIONS TO CUTTING BASIC SERVICES FOR  LOW-INCOME FLORIDIANS

ACLU alert for Special Session "C"

 

 

  News Clips for special session

Tampa Tribune legislative review

Florida Legislature Webpage - Sessions "B" and "C"- State Budget Reductions

Florida House Democratic caucus website


Follow-Up to Legislative 2nd Special Session

Dear Homeless People, Service Providers and Advocates:

JUST A QUICK NOTE TO THANK ALL OF YOU WHO CALLED OR FAXED AS PART OF THE EFFORT TO PRESERVE FUNDING FOR HOMELESS PROGRAMS DURING THE SPECIAL SESSION THAT JUST ENDED.

As you may recall, the House budget reductions included what would have amounted to a $4 million cut to the new Homeless Housing Grants Program. The Senate did not propose such a cut.

During the conference process, the Senate's position prevailed, and the funding was saved. Therefore, both the Challenge Grant and the Homeless Housing Grant Programs will kick off shortly with full funding. The funding will flow through local Continuum of Care processes.

Thank you very much for your efforts! It would be helpful if you called the legislators you called during the Special Session and thank them for their support of efforts to help homeless Floridians.

At the same time, please remember that many other programs that impact poor people were cut or only temporarily restored this Special Session, and cuts may be even deeper next Session.

The United Way of Florida provided the following perspective: "The Legislature did cut about $1.1 billion out of this year's budget.  But it used about $250 million in nonrecurring trust fund monies to shore-up a number of human service programs that could have been cut.  The medically needy program, prenatal care for poor pregnant women, and numerous other programs had their general revenue funding wholly or partially replaced by nonrecurring trust fund monies.

This means that if the 2002 Legislature does not find 'new' money to replace the trust funds, those programs will incur large cuts, or die.  In recent years, that wouldn't have been a problem. However, the 2002 Legislature convenes in only 6 weeks, and it's anticipated that new revenue estimates for the next fiscal year (2002-2003) will require significant additional cuts, potentially in the $1 billion to $3 billion range.  Consequently, programs funded out of nonrecurring trust funds during this Special Session - together with a multitude of health and human service programs that were not impacted by today's cuts - remain in great jeopardy.

"The Legislature did decide to delay the $128 million cut to the intangibles tax that was to take effect on January 1, 2002, and refused to consider budget enhancement measures (primarily elimination of numerous sales tax exemptions) to reduce the deficit and the resultant cuts. Legislators decided not to use any of the almost $1 billion in the Budget Stabilization Trust Fund to reduce the deficit.  Recognizing the additional shortfalls that will be faced in just a few short weeks, they wanted to make sure the reserve funds can be fully accessed next year."

Regards,
From: Florida Coalition for the Homeless flahomelesscoal@mindspring.com

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Sierra Club Report #2

Tallahassee Report #2
 
Another report on the legislature. Note Will Kendrick is also a sponsor of this bill to eliminate citizen participation. --Kathy
 
Mini Florida Tallahassee Report #2 Interim Committee Week December 3-7, 2001 Committee meetings for Special Session C will be conducted November26 -December 6 (remember, they didn't get it right during Special Session B) The official session begins earlier in 2002: January 22, 2002 and ends March 22, 2002.
 
To read and review legislation that has been filed for the 2002 session, you can access this information via the internet by accessing Online Sunshine's Homepage:  www.leg.state.fl.us Browse around the different options. Select House or Senate and go from there. (Note that you can select "session" and see bills from previous years, including the special sessions; "A", "B", "C", etc.)
 
ACTION ALERT FOR OUR NEXT ISSUE! CALL TODAY: Anti-Citizen participation bill is up in the House State Administration Committee; this Tuesday, December 4,  at 9 am.
 
HB 257 - Administrative Procedures Act (APA): (Senate bill 280/Pruitt): by Spratt CoSponsors: 
Ross, Bennett, Berfield, Haridopolos, Bowen, Bense, Alexander, Stansel, Machek, Gibson,III, Kendrick, Harrington, Dockery, Brown, Jordan, McGriff, Jr.
 
(If you see your legislator's name in the list above, give them a call and tell them you oppose this legislation and they should remove their name as a sponsor).
 
FLORIDA LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS: REPEAT OFFENDER RETURNS:  The APA, returns, after failing to pass in the 2000, 2001 session.
 
For the last several years, we have had to fight changes to the Administrative Procedures Act (Chapter 120, Florida Statutes), the area of the law that allows us to exercise our right to help enforce environmental laws and regulations. By objecting to permits for developments, destruction of wetlands and other administrative proceedings, citizens have been encouraged to use the administrative process as ways of avoiding an extraneous number of lawsuits in the State's beleaguered Circuit Courts.
 
This bill has a "chilling effect" on citizen participation and makes it riskier for citizens to be meaningfully involved  in environmental controversies. In fact, citizens have been critical important parties in virtually every major environmental controversy in the last 30 years. Representative Spratt's bill and others, would muzzle our voices by sanctioning us with fines if we pursue the Administrative Procedures route to challenge a permit or development.
 
This bill would subject citizens to paying the developer's attorney's fees if a hearing officer determines their pleadings contain "factual" allegations that turn out not to have "evidentiary support".  (This bill is very similar to Sen King's SB 270, except it at least does not directly attack Florida's Environmental Protection Act (Section 403.412, FS); but otherwise it repeats the same provisions from last year's H1135/S910 which attack citizens protecting their communities or the environment.) The companion bill is Sen Ken  Pruitt's S 280.
 
CALL THE FOLLOWING SPONSORS AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND TELL THEM YOU OPPOSE THIS LEGISLATION;  EXPRESS YOUR SURPRISE SINCE THESE TWO WEEKS IN THE LEGISLATURE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT FIXING THE BROKEN BUDGET AND SECURITY MEASURES.
 
House State Administration Committee: 
Brummer, Fred (Chair): R, District 38; 850-488-2023 
Dockery, Paula (Vice Chair): R, District 64: 850-488-2270 
Brown, Donald: R, District 5: 850-488-4726 
Kendrick, Will S.: D, District 10: 850-488-7870 
McGriff, Jr., Perry: D, District 22: 850-488-0887
 
The Tallahassee Report is brought to you by the Florida Chapter Sierra Club. Susie Caplowe, Chapter Lobbyist.
 
THE END.

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ACLU update 

THE SPECIAL SESSION


The Florida Legislature returned to The Capitol today to begin its second Special Session of 2001 to address the shortfall in projected revenues for the current fiscal year which approximate $1.3 billion. Also on their agenda is passage of  several state anti-terrorism bills.

As an additional matter, several committees in both houses will meet over the next two weeks to consider bills which have been prefiled for Legislature 2002. To view this week's legislative calendars, access Online Sunshine, the official Internet site of the Florida Legislature, at www.leg.state.fl.us. You can also read the full text of the bills as well as any staff analysis at
Online Sunshine. This is an excellent source of information for both the Special Session and Legislature 2002.

THE FLORIDA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

While the primary focus of the Special Session is the budget, there are several bills of particular interest to the American Civil Liberties Union which will also be heard. Some of the bills we shall be tracking in the House of Representatives this week are:

HB 0119 Homicide of Unborn Quick Child. The ACLU has opposed this legislation in prior sessions on the grounds that it would, for the first time in Florida law, declare that a fetus is viable after the 20th week of gestation. The bill equates the harm or injury done to the fetus with the equivalent harm or injury done to the mother. Specifically, the legislation would create a
separate offense for criminal acts that cause death or bodily injury to the "unborn quick child." The bill utilizes the woman as a vehicle to establish the crime against the fetus without requiring knowledge of the fetus or intent to harm the fetus. The real goal of this legislation is not to deter and punish criminal conduct, but to erode the reproductive rights of women. The bill will be heard in House Crime Prevention, Corrections & Safety on Tuesday, November 27.

HB 0009 Motor Vehicle/Cellular Telephones. The bill prohibits use of cellular telephone while operating motor vehicle unless operator uses headset or hands-free device. The ACLU at this point is merely monitoring the bill and has taken no position for or against. Most civil libertarians seem to view this as a public safety issue, while there are others who see a privacy
question similar to those raised in mandatory seatbelt laws. This bill will be heard in House State Administration on Tuesday, November 27.

ANTI-TERRORISM LEGISLATION

Eighteen proposed committee bills are scheduled to be heard on Wednesday, November 28 in the House Select Committee on Security. The ACLU will be tracking each of the eighteen bills and will likely testify in opposition to several of them. The most significant are:

PCB SEC 02-01 Terrorism/Definition
PCB SEC 02-02 Enhanced Sentencing
PCB SEC 02-03 Detention of Material Witnesses
PCB SEC 02-03 Interception of Communications
PCB SEC 02-04 Domestic Security

THE FLORIDA SENATE
 
Unlike in the House of Representatives which has published its full schedule for the week of November 26-30, the Florida Senate will operate pursuant to Senate Rule 13.3 which provides that all Senate committee meetings will be announced during the special session and noticed at least two hours prior to each meeting.

The Senate Select Committee on Public Security and Crisis Management, however, is scheduled to meet on Thursday, November 28, and will consider many of the same measures as its House counterpart. The most significant bills in the Senate are:

SB 0006C Terrorism/Pretrial Detention
SB 0008C Sentencing/Act of Terrorism
SB 0012C Communications Interception
SB 0024C Domestic Security/Counter-terrorism
SB 0026C Domestic Security/Counter-terrorism

Once again the full text of the bills as well as any published staff analysis is available at Online Sunshine.

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Democratic plan to restore budget for public education, health care, public safety

Florida House of Representatives Democratic Office Lois J. Frankel -- Democratic Leader Doug Wiles -- Democratic Leader pro-tempore FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 20, 2001
 
SENATE AND HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADERS SAY EXPLORE EVERY OPTION TO PROTECT PUBLIC EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE SERVICES AND PUBLIC SAFETY FROM BUDGET CUTS:
 
Outline Examples of Budget Options Available to Protect People From Devastating Cuts
 
TALLAHASSEE - Senate Democratic Leader Tom Rossin and House Democratic Leader Lois Frankel today unveiled a menu of options to address the state's $1.3 billion budget shortfall that would ensure that Florida's budget is not balanced on the backs of the state's public schools, lifeline health care services for children, seniors and other vulnerable citizens and public safety. The Democratic Leaders said that these options are just examples of many available options that their colleagues should seriously consider to address the revenue shortfall while protecting public schools and health care services for vulnerable citizens and public safety from falling victim to budget cuts.
 
"We should not use terrorism as an excuse to shortchange the educational future of our children when there are reasonable alternatives to making these budget cuts, " said House Democratic Leader Lois Frankel, of West Palm Beach. "The eventual strength of Florida's economy will rest on a well-educated workforce that will enable Florida to diversify and stabilize our marketplace."
 
"The good news for Florida is that even though Governor Bush has turned record surpluses into a huge deficit, we can still get our economy back on course without cutting critical services or public education. Not only can we fix our budget without these devastating cuts, we can provide a tax break for all Floridians that will truly stimulate the economy," said Senate Democratic Leader Tom Rossin, of West Palm Beach. "Looking at options besides cutting services would provide a shot in the arm now, but more importantly would build the foundation for a healthy economy for years to come."
 
The Democratic Leaders pointed to the recent Cornerstone Report from the Florida Chamber of Commerce Foundation http://www.newcornerstoneonline.com/body_news.html  as evidence that the state "cannot afford to take a step backwards by cutting education and lifeline services for the state's vulnerable." According to the Cornerstone Report, in the area of education, data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows the state's K-12 expenditures per pupil ranked 38th in the nation in 2000, compared to 21st ten years ago - with a decline in real dollar spending since the early 1990s from $6,200 to $5,875 per pupil.
 
The Cornerstone Report also says "Florida's existing effort in education and research may not be sufficient to position the state to compete in the knowledge economy."
 
The report shows that access to high-quality jobs remains a problem in Florida with 19 percent of working parents in the state identified as "working poor" with incomes that fall at or below 150 percent of the poverty line. The report also shows that during a decade of "unparalleled economic growth" nearly 14 percent of Floridians live in households with incomes below the poverty line. The report adds that the "differences in economic opportunity among socioeconomic groups are the product of fundamental differences in educational attainment and labor skills."
 
The Democratic Leaders said the data in the Cornerstone Report provides strong proof why the state must explore every available option to protect Florida's public schools and services for vulnerable citizens from budget cuts.
 
The menu of budget options outlined by the Democratic Leaders lists a combination of spending cuts and tax reforms including:
 
Intangibles Tax
 
Option A: Close the Florida Intangibles Tax Exempt (FLITE) Trust loophole that allows persons with more than $2 million in taxable assets to avoid paying the tax while allowing the scheduled exemptions to become effective on January 1, 2002. Estimated revenue generated - $300 million in FY 2001-02, $300 million annualized.
 
Option B: Move 600,000 taxpayers off the tax rolls by allowing intangibles tax exemptions of $250,000 for individuals and businesses and $500,000 for couples to take effect January 1, 2002 and rolling back the intangibles tax rate to 2 mills on taxable holdings above those thresholds. Under Florida law, Individual Retirement Accounts, 401Ks, deferred compensation plans, pension plans, savings accounts, certificates of deposit and government bonds and notes are among the items not subject to Florida's intangibles tax. Estimated revenue generated - $600 million in FY 2001-02.
 
How Option B would affect those who pay Florida's intangibles tax:
 
Filing Status Taxable Holdings Current Tax Option B Change
 
Individual $250,000 $230 $0 -$230
 
Individual $400,000 $380 $300 -$80
 
Individual $500,000 $480 $500 +$20
 
Individual $1,000,000 $980 $1500 +$520
 
Couple $500,000 $460 $0 -$460
 
Couple $800,000 $760 $600 -$160
 
Couple $1,000,000 $960 $1000 +$40
 
Couple $1,500,000 $1460 $2000 +$540
 
Business $200,000 $200 $0 -$200
 
Business $350,000 $350 $200 -$150
 
Business $500,000 $500 $500 $0
 
Business $1,000,000 $1000 $1500 +$500
 
Under Option B, an individual with $250,000 in taxable holdings would no longer pay Florida's intangibles tax and would receive $230 in tax relief over current law while an individual with $500,000 in taxable holdings would pay an additional $20 in the intangibles tax over current law. A couple with $500,000 in taxable holdings would receive $460 in tax relief over current law while a couple with $1,000,000 in taxable holdings would pay an additional $40 over current law. A business with $200,000 in taxable holdings would receive $200 in tax relief over current law while a business with $1,000,000 in taxable holdings would pay an additional $500.
 
Please note, under Option B, business accounts receivable would remain exempt and no taxpayer would pay a higher rate than they would have paid under the law in place in 1998.
 
Option C: Repeal or defer the increased intangibles tax thresholds that are scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2002. This would affect more than 600,000 taxpayers and generate an estimated $128 million in FY 2001-02, $159 million annualized.
 
Overweight Motor Carrier Fines and Permits
 
Adopt Florida TaxWatch and the Legislature's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) recommendations to enforce truck weight regulations. Estimated revenue generated - $28 million for FY 2001-02, $56 million annualized.
 
Irresponsible Driver Surcharge
 
Adopt Florida TaxWatch recommendation to institute a program where drivers who have committed serious violations must pay a surcharge to renew their license. This roadway safety measure has already been implemented in New Jersey and has led to a decrease in the number of violations over the last four years. Estimated revenue generated - $50 million in FY 2001-02, $100 million annualized.
 
Corporate Tax Credit for Private School Vouchers
 
Delay legislation passed during the 2001 regular session that provides businesses with tax credits for donations to private school voucher programs. Estimated revenue generated - $50 million in FY 2001-02, $50 million annualized.
 
Alcohol Surcharge
 
Roll back Florida's alcoholic drink tax to the rate in place in 1999. Estimated revenue generated - $40 million in FY 2001-02, $80 million annualized.
 
Tax Reform
 
Pass legislation to immediately repeal tax exemptions for skyboxes, sports teams, Golf Hall of Fame, charter boat leases and contact lens molds in excess of $100,000. Eliminating these exemptions would generate an estimated $27 million in FY 2001-02, $54 million annualized.
 
Sunset and commit to justifying the need to re-enact the bulk of the $22 billion in existing sales tax exemptions (except for necessities like food and medicine). The exemptions would be reviewed over the next two regular sessions with the goal of lowering the sales tax rate to five cents or lower. This action would lower the sales tax rate for all Floridians while increasing the stability of Florida's tax base and stimulating economic growth.
 
Borrow from the Budget Stabilization Fund
 
Consider borrowing some of the $941 million in Florida's Budget Stabilization Fund to help balance the state's budget with a plan to pay it back, as required by law. When the economy improves, the Budget Stabilization Fund should be fully funded at 10 percent of the prior year's general revenue (it is now at 5 percent).
 
Reduce State Agency Expense Budgets
 
Explore recommendation by Florida TaxWatch to reduce administrative costs by 10 percent and motivate state agencies to increase their use of technology, teleconferencing, e-mail in lieu of travel, remote classroom training and postage. Estimated savings - $68 million in FY 2001-02, $136 million annualized.
 
Renegotiate State Contracts
 
Open up existing state contracts to review and renegotiation with a goal of generating $75 million during FY 2001-02 and $300 million annualized.
 
Return to Competitive Bidding
 
Repeal changes recently made to Florida statutes that lets agencies more easily avoid competitive bidding and provide the Comptroller with authority to review any contract over a threshold amount (e.g. $1,000,000) to determine whether citizens have been well served.
 
Eliminate Unspent 2001-02 Member Projects
 
Eliminate from the current year budget any member project of less than statewide implication (that benefit a local area only) that has not yet been funded. Florida Tax Watch identified $282 million of these projects in its 2001 Turkey Watch report ($179 million of which were vetoed by the governor). Enact a moratorium on member projects for FY 2002-03. Estimated savings - $50 million in FY 2001-02, $300 million in FY 2002-03.
 
First District Court of Appeal Annex
 
The 2000 Legislature appropriated $15.8 million to build 6 new courtrooms in the First District Court of Appeals. This project did not go through the Capital Improvement Project process and was therefore included in the Florida Tax Watch 2000 Turkey Report. The First District Court of Appeals does not support this project. Estimated savings - $15.8 million in FY 2001-02.

 

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Florida Legislators propose sending at least $31,524,310 (this year) and  $75,911,544 (next year) BACK to Washington. This money provides an estimated 240,981 senior citizens, pregnant women, low-wage families, and people with disabilities who live below, at, or just  above the Federal Poverty Level ($8590 for 1 and $14,630 for 3) with basic, essential health care services.
 
MEANWHILE:  the Motion Picture Industry, the Golf Hall of Fame, Sports  Promoters, Security and Commodity Brokers and many others continue to get  special tax exemptions and annual subsidies.
 
Florida has an emergency fund (the Budget Stabilization Fund) that was  created to deal with issues such as the exacerbation of a slowing economy by  the events of September 11th and the cumulative effect of billions of dollars  in tax breaks over the last few years. WE MUST URGE LEGISLATORS TO USE THE FUND NOW AND REPLACE THE MONEY BY  REPEALING EXISTING, UNFAIR TAX EXEMPTIONS.
 
Here are some examples of what was funded with non-recurring revenue (the  Budget Stabilization (which has $940 million) and the Working Capital Fund (which has over $400 million) in the last Senate budget. Using these dollars  for the immediate shortfall in revenue allowed time to raise additional revenue through the removal of tax exemptions and subsidies during the  regular Session that begins in January.   Now these programs are back on the  table for immediate elimination.   IT IS STILL POSSIBLE TO USE THE BUDGET  STABILIZATION FUNDS NOW AND REPLACE THEM LATER - that's why the "emergency"  fund was created.
 
Because the following programs (with the exception of the Pharmaceutical  Assistance Program) draw down federal matching dollars the overall net loss  of money for health services provided only through these few programs is  $31,524,310.00 in 01/02.  For, while the state will save $56,488,527.00 in  General Revenue in 01/02, it will lose  $88, 012, 837 in federal dollars.  In 02/03 the net loss jumps to $75,911,544.00 as Florida saves $142,379,196.00 in General Revenue and loses  $218,290,740.00 in federal matching dollars (our tax money).
 
A FEW EXAMPLES OF PROPOSED BUDGET CUTS AND WHO IT AFFECTS
 
Eliminate Medicaid coverage for pregnant women and children under age 1 with  incomes greater than 150%FPL or $12,885 a year for a single person and for a  family of 3 it is $21,945.00 The current eligibility level is 185% or $15,900  a year and $1,325 per month for one and $27,072 for 3. There will be  approximately 5,150 women that will lose coverage from the income eligibility  reduction in this program. Florida saves $7,318,932 in general revenue in 01/02;   $14,637,864 in 02/03 Florida loses $9,486,889 in federal dollars in 01/02; $19,730,056 in  02/03
 
Eliminate Medicaid coverage for disabled individuals transitioning to work  effective January 1, 2002.  The program would  have served an estimated 1,500  working disabled individuals between the ages of 16 and 64 who have assets,  income and resources up to and including 250%FPL or $21,475 per year. This is  the "Ticket to Work" program adopted by the 2001 Legislature. Florida "saves" $789,121 in GR in 01/02; $3,156,484 in 02/03 Florida loses $1,143,326 in Federal dollars in 01/02; $7,729,788 in  02/03
 
Eliminate coverage for adults eligible for Medicaid through the Medically  Needy Program with the exception of pregnant women and children under the age of 1.  Around 8,900 children and 37,600 adults are covered at least for a  portion of a year under the program. An estimated 19,243 adults would lose  full coverage.  Also reduces eligibility for a postpartum women living in a  family with income from 185%FPL ($27,072 a year for a family of 3) to 150%FPL ($21,945 a year for a family of 3) to receive family planning services for 24  months following a pregnancy paid for by Medicaid.
 
The Medically Needy program provides Medicaid to families and individuals who  have more income than allowed for Medicaid eligibility allowed for under other mandatory or optional categorical eligibility groups described in the  Social  Security Act, but who have significant health care expenses.  The  federal Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1981 amended the Social  Security Act to allow states more flexibility in defining the term "Medically  Needy" and permitted states to vary Medicaid services by eligibility group.    To become eligible for the Medically Needy Program in Florida, an  individual must meet the categorical criteria for Medicaid, that is, be a  low-income family with children; a caretaker relative or parent of a  dependent child; a pregnant woman; a dependent child; or be aged, blind or disabled; and have incurred catastrophic medical expenses to the extent that  income, after medical costs are deducted in the month in question, is reduced  to $180($241 for a couple), and have assets which do not exceed $5,000  ($6,000 for a couple). Income and asset levels increase with family size.  At the point in time each month that incurred medical expenses exceed the amount  necessary to reduce gross income to $180, the individual becomes eligible for Medicaid for the remainder of that month only.  A person eligible for the  Medically Needy Program is eligible for all Medicaid services with the  exception of services in a skilled nursing facility or an intermediate care  facility for the developmentally disabled, and home and community-based  services. Florida "saves $41,790,232 in GR in 01/02; $111,404,364 in 02/03 Florida loses $68,555,816 in Federal dollars in 01/02;       $173,177,284 in  02/03
 
Eliminate Medicaid coverage for dental, visual and hearing services for  adults.  In order to qualify for these programs you must not have more than  90%FPL $7,731 a year for a single person if you are disabled or over 65.  If  you are 21-65 the eligibility level is set at 66%FPL or approximately $5584 a  year if you are a parent or relative caregiver.  If you are and individual  with no children it is set at 27%FPL or approximately $2,200 per year.  **Eligibility levels may be different if you are receiving TANF. Medicaid currently covers adult dental services rendered by licensed,  Medicaid participating dentists. Medicaid-reimbursable adult dental services are provided to recipients' age 21 and older. Services include diagnostic  examinations for denture services; radiographs necessary for dentures; extractions and other surgical procedures essential to the preparation of the  mouth for dentures; oral prophylaxis; and emergency extractions and abscess treatment to alleviate pain or infection. Annual caseload is 57,981 individuals
 
Medicaid covers hearing services rendered by licensed, Medicaid participating  otolaryngologists, otologists, audiologists, and hearing aid specialists.   Hearing services include cochlear implants, diagnostic testing, hearing aids,  hearing aid evaluations, hearing aid fitting and dispensing, and hearing aid repairs and accessories. Annual caseload is 8,764 individuals
 
Medicaid covers visual services rendered by licensed, Medicaid participating  ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians.  Medicaid reimbursable services include eyeglasses, eyeglass repairs, and prosthetic eyes and  contact lenses. Annual caseload is 123,493 individuals   Florida "saves" $6,590,242 in GR in 01/02; $13,180,484 in 02/03 Florida loses $8,826,806 in Federal dollars in 01/02; $17,653,612 in 02/03
 
The Pharmaceutical Expense Assistance Program for individuals who qualify for  limited assistance under Medicaid as a result of being dually eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare and whose limited assistance or Medicare coverage  does not include pharmacy benefits.  Eligible individuals are Florida residents who are 65 years of age or older, have incomes between 90 and 120  percent of the federal poverty level, are not enrolled in a Medicare health maintenance organization that provides a pharmacy benefit, and request to be  enrolled in the program. Medications covered under this program are those covered under Medicaid. Monthly benefit payments are limited to $80 per  participant.  Participants are required to make a 10% coinsurance payment for  each prescription purchased. For the first 6 months during FY 2000 and 2001 the program was operational it served an average of 6,818 individuals.  The average cost per participant was  $57.06.  Only 40 percent of the eligible individuals each month utilizing the program use the maximum $80 subsidy.  The program is currently funded a $30  million.  It is being reduced by $22.5 million which leaves $7.5 million to  serve an estimated 10,953 elder individuals. Funded totally with state general revenue.
 
TOTAL "SAVED" BY STATE(including pharmaceutical assistance):  $78,988,527  01/02 $164,879,196 02/03 NET LOSS DUE TO LOSING FEDERAL MATCHING DOLLARS $31,524,310 (01/02) and $75,911,544 (02/03) **Program descriptions, impact and dollar amounts for losses and savings come  from Senate Committee on Appropriations
 
Now, here is who is not being asked to cut their budgets and the amount of  general revenue that could be raised if they were: (this is only a small beginning)
 
Feed for poultry, livestock and ostriches:  $19.8 million Franchises, Royalties & Lisc./Holding & other Investment Offices  $711.6  million Security and Commodity Brokers $234.1 million Newspaper and Magazine Inserts:  $38.5 million Motion Picture Industry :  $124 million Professional Sports Club Operators and Promoters: $244.2 million The Professional Golf Hall of Fame annual subsidy: $2 million International Game Fish Association World facility annual subsidy: $1 million
 
TOTAL LOST TO TAX EXEMPTIONS AND SUBSIDIES LISTED ABOVE: $1,375,000 (LOST)
...
From Karen Woodall, Florida NOW Lobbyist, 11/21

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ACLU Alert for Special Session "C"

 Yesterday, Governor Jeb Bush, flanked by Senate President John McKay and House Speaker Tom Feeney, hosted a media briefing to announce that:
 
1. Since the October 22 -- November 1 Special Session did not accomplish its goal of producing a budget which addresses the expected decline in revenue growth;

2. It is in the best interest of the state to call the Florida Legislature back into Special Session.
 
Therefore, by proclamation of the Governor, the third special session of 2001 will convene on Tuesday, November 27 at 9:00 AM, and will adjourn on or before midnight on Thursday, December 6.
 
The stated purposes of the Special Session will be to consider reductions in appropriations (aka budget cuts), conform statutes to provide flexibility within appropriated funds (aka shift trust funds around to meet short term needs), provide appropriations for security and economic stimuli (aka provide more money for FDLE and some corporate welfare for business), consider expansion of the State Comptroller's authority to borrow from the Budget Stabilization Fund on an emergency basis, and consider changing the Intangibles Tax law (aka delay the most recent tax cut).
 
In all, the governor and legislative leadership have determined that the product of the first session is null and void.  It did not happen.  Shred the evidence.  Erase the tapes. Nice try, but no cigar.  Start again from scratch.
 
If you thought the previous session was difficult, hold on tight. We know that the economic picture is not getting brighter, so the post-Thanksgiving debate will again be agonizing and rancorous.
 
The governor and legislative leaders may have stood shoulder to shoulder yesterday, but on November 27 when the facts of budget cutting options become real, the debate will intensify.  There is nothing easy about curtailing programs, and nothing simple about reducing access to vital services.
 
It is also probable that we shall see a return of the various domestic security bills which were enacted by the Senate as well as bills in the House dealing with school prayer, patriotic programs, and reading parts of the Declaration of Independence. These bills may be heard either as part of the committee process for the Regular Session which convenes in late January, or as part of the third special session which begins in three weeks.
 
Your task is to contact your legislators while they are home for the Thanksgiving holidays and to remind them that while Floridians want to be both safe and secure, the price simply cannot be the elimination of our personal freedoms.
 
It is always best to meet with your legislators when they are in their home districts. Talk to them about your budget concerns which is the reason for the special session call, but also impress upon them the danger of trying to protect our freedoms by forsaking those very freedoms.
 
Any new bills applicable to the third special session will be posted at Online Sunshine, the official web site of the Florida Legislature. The URL is http://www.leg.state.fl.us . The session identifier will be 2001C.
 
Thank you for remaining eternally vigilant in the defense of civil liberties!
 
Larry Helm Spalding ACLU Legislative Staff Counsel Tallahassee, Florida  http://www.aclufl.org 

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Bush agrees to cut $1-billion in budget
Dismissing criticism from opponents, Bush says the cuts are fair. Some, however, say tax breaks should go first.

Bush signs off on nearly $1 billion in cuts
Budget battle an 'intense effort,' he says
Officially closing out a strange and difficult fall, Gov. Jeb Bush on Thursday signed into law close to $1 billion in cuts to the state budget brought on by a recession made worse by terrorism's effect on Florida tourism.

Gov. Bush approves $1 billion in cuts - Governor portrays spending reductions as `responsible' -- TALLAHASSEE -- Three years of economic bliss officially came to an end for Florida on Thursday as Gov. Jeb Bush signed into law $1 billion in spending cuts for schools, social services and other state programs. Bush used a brief news conference to portray the cuts as ``responsible'' in the midst of ``very difficult times.''

Bush signs $1B spending cut 
Gov. Jeb Bush signed budget cuts of about $1 billion into law Thursday.

12/9/01

  • Budget problems aren't over by a long shot
    Florida lawmakers last week solemnly celebrated surmounting a $1 billion hump in the state budget. Unfortunately, the speeches and handshakes lay in the shadow of a taller peak on the horizon.
  • The sound of spin
    Despite efforts in Tallahassee to portray last week's scaled-down budget in the best possible light, the cuts will hurt, leaving unmet many of the state's needs.
  • Dáte: Florida, Oceania sister states
    By S.V. Dáte, Palm Beach Post Capitol Bureau
    TALLAHASSEE -- When is a budget cut actually a budget increase? When it threatens your outlook for reelection.-- Such seems to be the collective realization of most Florida Republican officeholders in Tallahassee who, in the waning days of the just-finished special session, have adopted Ministry of Truth tactics from George Orwell's 1984.
    There, the rulers of Oceania decreed that war was peace, freedom was slavery and ignorance was strength.
    Here, the rulers of Florida similarly decree that a smaller budget is actually larger, that less money per student is more, and that, even if it were less, less actually is more...
  • Watching the Legislature, our troops shouldn't be proud
    TALLAHASSEE -- Words that failed Florida as a tourist slogan, ". . . The rules are different here," now fit the current management of our House of Representatives, where venerable rules and traditions are ignored at the whim of the leadership.

12/8/01

12/7/01

  • Failing readiness test 
    A society that fails to adequately invest in its people will be caught off guard for social and economic challenges. That's why social service and education advocates are so alarmed by lawmakers' budget cuts this week. National rankings in both place Florida in the middle of the pack at best, in some cases close to the bottom. The ramifications include a populace unready, as one recent report noted, to compete in the 21st-century knowledge economy, and a growing gap between the haves and have-nots. Until we make a sincere commitment, our preparedness in those areas - as in fighting terrorism - will continue to be lacking.
  • A little maturity required - Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed, that he is grown so great? -- William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar.--  Somebody needs a spanking, but it's not over football this time. Now that Florida's Capitol Police are finally in a professional command, the improved security is too much for Speaker Tom Feeney and some other spoiled darlings in the House of Representatives.
  • Editorial: Purging election reform
    The Palm Beach Post
    Legislators who studied the 2000 election looking for ways to avoid another national embarrassment saw the need to overhaul the state's flawed voter database. So lawmakers gave the secretary of state $2 million and instructions to work with one...
  • State cuts $1-billion
    TALLAHASSEE -- Teens won't learn as much about the perils of smoking. Juvenile probation officers will have to monitor more kids. County school districts and health departments must get by with less help from the state.
  • State OKs balancing act
    Florida lawmakers voted to cut $1 billion in state spending Thursday, closing out a 10-day special budget session but failing to dispel dark clouds over the state's economy.
  • With budget healed, campaigning begins
    TALLAHASSEE -- As state lawmakers applied a $1-billion tourniquet around a bleeding budget Thursday, the face of Florida's political future was plainly visible.
  • Miami-Dade schools face budgets cuts of more than $81 million
    The sobering impact of the state budget cuts jolted the Miami-Dade school district as the superintendent unveiled options to save $81.2 million in the midst of a school year.
  • McKay ready to push reform of sales tax
    Other Republicans indifferent about plan With the budget-cutting session behind him, Senate President John McKay on Thursday asked his Republican colleagues for help in tackling his next challenge - rebuilding the state's tax system.
  • Republicans unite as special session ends
    HOW LOCAL LAWMAKERS VOTED Rep. Loranne Ausley , D-Tallahassee - N Rep. Will Kendrick , D-Carrabelle - Y Rep. Bev Kilmer , R-Quincy - N Rep. Curtis Richardson , D-Tallahassee - Y Sen. Al Lawson , D-Tallahassee - N Sen. Richard Mitchell , D-Jasper - N
  • Everglades on hold?
    With projections for next year's budget revenues looking equally as bad, if not worse, than the current ones, nothing will be safe from the Legislature, including Everglades funding.

12/6/01

  • Bush's tax cut wins delay despite several GOP nays
    TALLAHASSEE -- Lawmakers handed Gov. Jeb Bush the delay he sought in a controversial tax cut Wednesday, but it came without the support of some of the House's most conservative members.
  • House delays intangibles tax cut
    House Republicans rallied behind Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday and delayed their prized cut in the taxes Floridians pay on stocks and bonds. The action, which passed 102-17, is one of several measures to patch a $1.3 billion hole in the budget.
  • Editorial: Stiffing the schools
    The Palm Beach Post
    Three area legislators made their choice Wednesday: Another tax break for the wealthiest 4.5 percent of Floridians matters more than $130 million for school districts. The House voted 102-17 to delay the third cut...
  • State's $1 billion budget pinch could get tighter  For all the pain local schools and state agencies may feel from the $1 billion in cuts Florida lawmakers are expected to approve Thursday, consider this: It could get worse.
  • A vote for a new tax
    As promised, the Legislature has voted to delay the previously approved intangibles tax cut, thereby saving $128-million to apply to the budget deficit. The margins of 37-2 in the Senate and 102-17 in the House were impressive, considering that it could be called -- as some did -- a vote for a new tax.
  • House passes security bills
    Florida lawmakers voted Wednesday to make it easier for police to eavesdrop on suspected terrorists' conversations and harder for terrorists to target the food, water and medicine supply. In its first major legislative response to the law enforcement questions raised by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the House passed a package of bills aimed at making it easier for law enforcement to target and convict people of planning terrorist activities. The bills included the first definition of terrorism in the state's criminal law.

12/5/01

  • Schools seek flexibility in funding
    Districts want to spend earmarked money as they see fit to ease the strain of budget cuts. Lawmakers think they can help.
  • Another Tallahassee deal
    If the Legislature has a deal, it isn't a good one for the universities, schools, the elderly, prisoners trying to kick a drug habit and people who have had their citrus trees eradicated as part of the state's citrus-canker program.
  • State Budget Reductions Will Exacerbate Social Needs - The shifting of resources and tapping of trust funds may blunt the impacts for a time, but these cuts ultimately will be harshly felt. Schools, health care, law enforcement, transportation, programs for the elderly and many other state services will be affected. The budget is certain to become a major campaign issue next year.
  • Protecting pork
    If there was any doubt that legislators view the State University System, first and foremost, as a lucrative source of pork and patronage, Senate President John McKay, R-Bradenton, certainly dispelled it this week.-- Florida Senate President John McKay used the power of his office to block plans by IFAS to close an outdated research facility in his district.
  • Caucus bristles at Bush's tax deal
    The loosely organized Freedom Caucus tightens ranks against a delay in the intangibles tax cut, which the governor engineered.
  • Security bills up for final vote
    A slate of bills designed to improve the state's ability to fight terrorism and restrict public access to potentially dangerous state records sailed through its last committee Tuesday, headed for a final House vote today.
  • House, Senate at odds over the Capitol Police
    Safeguarding thousands of state employees, politicians, lobbyists and tourists in Florida's Capitol is one thing. Easy access to after-hours watering holes on Adams Street is something else.
  • Bill addresses union disputes
    Apparently still stinging from having their actions questioned by a circuit judge last year, lawmakers are rewriting the rules covering how they handle disputes with the unions representing state employees. The House State Administration Committee created a bill (PCB SA 02-01) on Tuesday that would give the Legislature more freedom to jump into a dispute between state workers and the governor much sooner than they are now allowed.
  • Reserve fund created for crises like this
    It's reassuring that legislative leaders and Gov. Jeb Bush realize that another fiasco like last month's special session is simply not acceptable. So, relatively speaking, their pending agreement to cut the state budget by about $1 billion and assault education spending a little less aggressively than had been feared is a painful but constructive step.
  • Cuts Hurting State's Future
    South Florida school districts have received the bad news, and the only thing good about it is that it isn't as bad as it could have been. At least not yet.
  • Schools sort out damage
    As expected, Florida legislators turned to the public schools, universities and community colleges to help balance the state budget

 

12/4/01

  • Editorial: No thought behind cuts to balance state budget
    The governor can say what he wants, but the revised state budget shortchanges Floridians and darkens their future. -- The Legislature will vote Thursday on more than $1 billion in spending cuts to bring the budget back into balance after the slow economy collided with $1.6 billion in tax cuts passed since 1999. Gov. Bush chose to say: "We in Florida have been successful in meeting the priority needs of our people and preparing for a brighter future." He's wrong.
  • Fine me? Abolish you!
    Six of the nine members of the Florida Elections Commission are registered as lobbyists. For them to simultaneously sit in judgment of a member of the Legislature is an obvious conflict of interest.
  • Senator absent, but votes are cast
    TALLAHASSEE -- Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla's absence from his duties Monday left his South Florida constituents with no representation, and history might never have known the difference.
  • Florida workers eye of age-bias case
    WASHINGTON - With layoffs expected at many firms hit by recession, the Supreme Court said Monday it will decide whether older workers may sue over cutbacks that seem to hit them hardest.
  • Redistricting maps still in early stages
    Learn more about redistricting and look at current and proposed maps at www.floridaredistricting.org/index.html Please see CHANGE, 2A House leads Senate in drawing up new voting districts Leon County could lose one of its state senators, but it could gain another representative in Congress. State House seats could shift, sending Rep. Loranne Ausley - who represents the more affluent northeast Leon County - to Rep. Curtis Richardson's south-side district and vice versa.
  • First peek at budget comes
    Schools face tough times ahead as most are forced to spend from reserves. Senate passes a slew of security bills. Prison contractors surprised by cuts Universities breathed a sigh of relief, state workers whistled in the graveyard and prison contractors suppressed their frustration as Floridians got their first look at the state budget Monday.
  • Senate votes for delay in tax cut
    TALLAHASSEE -- The Senate voted Monday to postpone for 18 months the next cut in a state tax on investments, a move that will leave an estimated $130-million in the treasury and avoid deeper budget cuts.
  • Cautious use of emergency fund
    A visitor accustomed to rational government would find it hard to understand why Florida is imposing more than $1-billion in midyear budget cuts on its schools and other essential services without using a single penny from its $941-million emergency fund. Perhaps the recession might have been foreseen when the budget was enacted last spring, but not the terrorism of Sept. 11. If that doesn't qualify as an emergency, what would?
  • Schools face tough times
    State's cuts force reserve spending School districts say they will survive the state's plan to cut $309 million from their budgets but contend it won't be easy. Most will have to spend their reserve funds. Many already have canceled summer school. And several are looking at cuts for next year amid worries that state funding will be rolled back to 1999-2000 levels.
  • Lawmakers cut deeper into schools' spending
    By Mary Ellen Flannery, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
    In their second swipe at slicing state spending, Tallahassee legislators nearly doubled the amount of money that the Palm Beach County School District will lose this year. School officials said Monday they still don't know...
  • Senate takes aim at terror
    Spurred by fear of terrorist attacks, the Florida Senate voted Monday to expand the legal definition of terrorism, to stiffen criminal penalties for terrorist crimes, to give police new powers to wiretap cell phone calls and to keep some public records secret.
  • Senate passes security bills but limits records measure
    State senators passed a slew of security bills Monday but ditched a proposal to let law enforcement officials seek court orders to close public records on a case-by-case basis. The Senate limited the scope of another public records bill concerning drug stockpiles before sending it and 10 other measures to the House.
  • Florida Senate backs tighter security laws - TALLAHASSEE -- Trying to keep controversy to a minimum, the state Senate passed several security-related measures Tuesday, but never took up a proposal that would have let state police secretly petition a judge to seal public records.
  • State senators pass bill allowing police to listen in on cell phones
    TALLAHASSEE · Spurred by fear of terrorist attacks, the Florida Senate voted Monday to expand the legal definition of terrorism, to stiffen criminal penalties for terrorist crimes, to give police new powers to wiretap cell phone calls and to keep some public records secret.
  • Senate lets public records bill die
    TALLAHASSEE -- A controversial state Senate proposal to let police and a single judge close court and police records on a case-by-case basis in the name of fighting terrorism never came up for a vote Monday.
  • Dispelling a myth
    Over the years, lawmakers have realized that sending minor drug users to prison only exposes them to hardened criminals and increases the likelihood of future felonies.

 

12/3/01

  • New voter rolls arouse more fears
    An accurate and reliable voter database has eluded Florida. Now another outside company is hired to design a system.
  • State leaders agree on budget deal
    Cuts to public school education about $309M
    Oh, what difference a month makes. With a handshake and smiles Sunday afternoon, Florida legislative leaders sealed a deal that cuts the state budget by about $1 billion.
  • Schools to feel squeeze in plan to cut budget - Florida House Speaker Tom Feeney and Senate President John McKay unveil a compromise plan to cut the state's public school funding by $309 million.
  • Handshake seals deal on state budget cuts
    House and Senate leaders agree on the final details of more than $1-billion in cuts and say this plan will stick.
  • More shenanigans
    Our position: The Florida Senate is at it again this week in its assault on public records.
  • Legislators ready final budget cuts - TALLAHASSEE - Trying to avoid spending another December in Tallahassee, lawmakers are more than ready to pass a $1 billion package of bugdet cuts this week and go home.

12/2/01

  • New voter rolls arouse more fears
    TALLAHASSEE -- Florida's unreliable statewide voter database sparked ugly complaints after the 2000 election. Hundreds of people said they were told they could not vote, and some fought to get their names off "scrub lists" of supposed felons. 
  • Dispute brewing over state voter data base contract - TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - An overhaul of the database of voters that proved faulty during the presidential election has sparked new controversy because it was awarded to a private company instead of the state's court clerks, as intended by the Legislature.
  • A shameful retreat on arsenic
    The arrogance and greed that have come to grip the Florida Legislature were on full display Tuesday in Tallahassee. There, lawmakers siding with big-business lobbyists killed a bill to outlaw arsenic-laced wood from Florida's public playgrounds.
  • More shenanigans
    Our position: The Florida Senate is at it again this week in its assault on public records.
  • The Florida Senate, historically a tight-knit fraternity that rarely airs its dirty laundry, is swirling in a soap opera of personal feuds, Machiavellian maneuverings and political intrigue... Some say privately they have heard from Bush emissaries, gently suggesting that good job opportunities await them in Tallahassee or Washington if they help Webster.
  • State's drug czar says his budget will rebound from lawmakers' cutbacks
    By Scott McCabe, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
    While Florida lawmakers slash nearly $1 billion in social services this weekend, the state's drug czar Saturday reassured Palm Beach County's rehab community that his budget will remain virtually unscathed.
  • Education with all the trimmings
    School budget cuts cause headaches for Legislature
    Whether to let schools use construction money to pay for day-to-day operations was the main sticking point Saturday as budget negotiators continued trimming about $1 billion from the state spending plan.
  • Schools face budget sting
    House and Senate negotiators on Saturday resolved most of their differences over how to trim more than $1 billion in state spending, leaving only a handful of thorny issues for the top leaders to hammer out today.
  • Schools brace for state cuts -No one can pinpoint how state budget cutbacks will creep into the classroom, but educators and parents statewide know it's only a matter of time. Escambia County K-12 schools could lose a minimum of $5.2 million, and Santa Rosa schools could lose at least $2.6 million, depending on the special legislative session's outcome.

  • Cutbacks will cost university millions
    The House and Senate agreed to cut $93 million in funding for public universities.
  • The food chain
    The Florida Legislature is getting ready to hack more than a billion dollars out of the state budget and they're hoping that voters will take their anger out next year on locally elected school board members.
  • Court: Ban on candidate gifts unlawful
    Nonprofit group said law illegally barred hopefuls' private donations MIAMI - A federal appeals court overturned a Florida law banning political candidates from contributing personal or campaign funds to nonprofit groups, saying it violates the groups' right to free speech and free association.
  • Future without reform ensures second-rate state
    Inside Lewis Carroll's rabbit hole, Alice's view of reality lacks common sense. She's living in a dream. Too many of Florida's political leaders are living in their own rabbit hole - Gov. Jeb Bush highest among them. 
  • Safe driving record not required
    ST. PETERSBURG -- Carl Lester Byrd had a DUI accident in 1984: His car struck and killed a pedestrian. He tested positive at work this year for marijuana, and he has eight recent tickets and three at-fault accidents

12/01/01

  • Teachers' insurance a boondoggle
    When Gov. Jeb Bush said new programs should be the first ones sacrificed to the deficit, did he really mean it? Not exactly. On Nov. 19, his Department of Management Services awarded a $1.2-million contract for professional liability insurance for teachers, a new program, even though the Legislature had voted in the first special session last month to rescind the appropriation. In the new special session, only the Senate still wants to kill it. The House voted 68 to 50 to defeat an amendment aimed at using the money to restore deep cuts in programs for deaf, blind and developmentally disabled children. Merely seven Republicans voted for the children. Bush's press office says he regards the insurance program as an aid to teacher recruitment and retention.All the same, it's a boondoggle; the Senate should hang tough. 
    Most teachers already have liability insurance as a union benefit. The state-paid insurance was sponsored by Republican legislators whose transparent motive was to weaken the union. Surely there are better uses for the state's money.
  • Accord near in budget battle
    Please see SESSION, 2A House, Senate likely to find compromise by end of weekend House and Senate budget negotiators worked into the night Friday trying to agree on about $1 billion in cuts to the state's current spending plan.
  • 2 sides near deal on budget
    The House and Senate tentatively agree to slightly more than $1-billion in cuts for the rest of the fiscal year.
  • Senate slashes $1 billion, sets up talks with HouseThe Florida Senate agreed Friday to slash nearly $1 billion in spending from this year's $48 billion state budget, setting the stage for weekend deal-making with the House.
  • Lawmakers nearly done cutting budget -Florida's Republican-led Legislature rushed toward agreement Friday on budget cuts to fix the state's $1.3 billion revenue shortfall.
  • Senate faces tough decisions on state budget cuts - TALLAHASSEE -- South Florida homeowners may still receive compensation for trees felled for citrus canker eradication, but it won't be as much as the Legislature promised last spring.

11/30/01

  • An easy fix for 3 issues: trim Legislature
    CAPITOL CORNER
    Here's a way to cut the budget, promote Gov. Jeb Bush's vision for a streamlined e-government and make next year's redistricting chore a heck of a lot easier. Let's downsize the Legislature.
  • Senator wants elections rules panel abolished
    TALLAHASSEE -- Three weeks ago, Miami Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla was hit with one of the largest fines in Florida history for violating campaign finance laws. Now, he has filed a bill to abolish the commission that fined him.
  • The House passes tight budget plan
    Some social services and schools would be hurting
    State probation officers would keep their jobs, but schools and social services would have to tighten their belts under a spending plan Florida House members approved Thursday.
  • House's budget cuts exceed $1-billion
    TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida House of Representatives cut more than $1-billion from education, health care and public safety Thursday, inching closer to an agreement with the Senate on final cuts.
  • Senate faces tough decisions on state budget cuts - TALLAHASSEE -- South Florida homeowners may still receive compensation for trees felled for citrus canker eradication, but it won't be as much as the Legislature promised last spring.-- Amid a complex, $1.2 billion state budget-cutting plan the House approved Thursday, Rep. Carlos Lacasa, R-Miami, resurrected the controversial program with a compromise: Instead of $100 per tree, Lacasa is proposing that homeowners receive a $100 Wal-Mart voucher for the first one and $55 for each one after that -- the same amount commercial citrus grove owners are entitled to under federal programs.
  • Where the cuts are
    These are highlights of the more than $1-billion in the Florida House's proposed cuts to the current year's state budget. The deepest cuts are in education, which accounts for 53 percent of all state spending paid for with general taxes. The House and the Senate have slightly different approaches.
  • House passes budget-cutting plan - TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The state House voted Thursday to cut $1 billion from the budget, slashing spending on education, public safety and health care for the poor and elderly in the face of a slumping economy.- The vote was 78-41, nearly along party lines with the Republican majority supporting it and Democrats voting against it.
  • GOP strives for harmony in cutting Florida budget
    Even as they chop more than $1 billion from schools, social services and other programs, Florida's Republican political leaders are striving hard to be inconspicuous.
  • Partisan budget war heating up
    Laying the groundwork for next year's election-year political wars, Democrats are trying to ignite public anger over education and social-services cuts and are hoping to separate themselves from unpopular cuts by backing alternatives and tax-increase possibilities.
  • Secrecy can't be tolerated this recklessly
    Legislators such as Rep. Dudley Goodlette who are in such a hurry to close access to public records need to keep in mind why we are fighting a war in Afghanistan.  
  •  Domestic anti-government groups must be monitored
    Like other groups on the racist, anti-government, lunatic fringe, the Aryan Nations celebrated the Sept. 11 atrocities.
  • State Senate wants list of illegal aliensTALLAHASSEE -- 
    TALLAHASSEE -- As Florida law-enforcement officials scour the state for potential international terrorists, they are missing a key weapon in the fight -- a list to help tell them if suspected terrorists are in the country illegally, officials say.-- Federal immigration officials have refused to provide the list to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the state's newly appointed domestic-security chief told a state Senate committee Thursday.

11/29/01

  • Outstretched palms
    Our position: It's shameful for legislators to be holding fund-raisers during this session.
  • The squeaky wheel
    Florida politicians have decided that it is better for children, the poor, the sick and the elderly to suffer than to run the risk of not being reelected next year.
  • Senate slicing down budget
    Panel OKs nearly $1 billion in cuts
    A Senate committee approved nearly $1 billion in budget cuts Wednesday as a key Republican lawmaker said the Legislature may have to look at "forms of revenue creation" next year.
  • Lawmakers resist attempts to raise taxes
    TALLAHASSEE -- Sen. Betty Holzendorf thought she found a way to help Florida's cash-strapped schools.
  • Return pay hikes, Senate panel tells school executives
    Looking for every spare dime to minimize cuts to public school classrooms, the Senate Appropriations Committee wants school administrators to forfeit their pay hikes — especially in light of raises 21 Broward school administrators just received.
  • The new math
    Our position: Legislators shouldn't punish schools when the state undercounts students.
  • Counties feel stiffed by the state
    County commissioners complain that the Legislature's cuts hand them the bills, not the bucks, for programs.
  • Let's not stop investing in teens
    When high-profile juvenile crimes undermined Florida tourism in 1994, the Legislature poured resources into programs to rehabilitate young offenders and kids on the edge of trouble. Boot camps and counseling services began contributing to what is today a noticeable drop in juvenile crime. 
  • Lawmakers vow to slash fewer jobs
    During an October special session that went awry, lawmakers had considered eliminating nearly 700 jobs belonging to probation officers as part of a budget cutting move.
  • Housing break for well-off to get second look - TALLAHASSEE -- In the middle of a state financial crisis, a Senate panel voted Wednesday to expand a housing program that provides no-cost loans for low-income families to include those with incomes as high as $75,000.
  • A casualty of war?
    If it acts in haste to gut public-records protections that took generations to put in place, the Legislature will be chipping away at the foundation of our democracy.
  • Senate bill would limit public access
    State law enforcement officials could clamp a temporary secrecy lid on any public record under a bill approved Tuesday by a Senate committee.
  • Give it up
    Our position: The Florida Senate is making another ill-conceived run against Sunshine.
  • Public records bill looks dead
    But measure to allow secrecy may return next year
    A measure that would allow the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to delay requests for public records during terrorism investigations appears dead for the Legislature's special session, the bill's House sponsor said Wednesday.
  • Editorial: Bad idea, for the record
    The Palm Beach Post
    Floridians will not be more secure if the Legislature restricts access to public records in the name of security. Though the special session that began Tuesday is supposed to be for closing a $1.3 billion budget shortage, the Senate Criminal Justice Committee...
  • Gov. Bush wants Legislature to OK basic anti-terrorism billsThe committee unanimously endorsed 16 bills Tuesday, many without debate, including measures to allow expanded wiretaps, create a state counter-intelligence computer database, regulate aircraft spraying and broaden criminal offenses of poisoning and terrorism.
  • Lawmakers ignite anger over security
    TALLAHASSEE -- Money is the main issue, but lawmakers called to a special session to balance the state budget appear committed to passing security measures aimed at protecting the state from terrorist attacks.
  •  

11/28/01

  • Records bills clear a Senate panel - TALLAHASSEE -- Five new terrorism-related exemptions to the public records law won support from a Senate committee Tuesday, but one was so controversial that House Speaker Tom Feeney is unlikely to let it come up for a vote.
  • Florida takes a step to seal public records in terror cases     TALLAHASSEE -- State police could secretly petition a judge to seal any public records deemed vital to terrorism investigations under a bill a Senate panel approved Tuesday. The vote touched off a fresh round of criticism of a chamber that has already signed off on holding secret meetings of its own members.
  • Senators go for secrecy
    State senators, arguing the need to fight terrorism, quickly moved to deny the public access to a number of public records, including lists of drugs stockpiled to counteract bioterrorism, arrest records and security precautions at hospitals and government buildings.
  • Committee OKs security bills
    Proposal allows FDLE to request restrictions on access to records
    A Senate committee Tuesday passed a slew of bills designed to improve the state's security and restrict public access to information deemed too sensitive by law enforcement.
  • Special session off to clumsy start
    State officials are determined that the second special session to fix a $1.3 billion hole in Florida's budget won't be as embarrassing as the first.
  • Budget-cutting session opens amid confidence -TALLAHASSEE -- Among the signs that Republican leaders already have a plan worked out for solving Florida's budget crisis: Gov. Jeb Bush took time Tuesday to talk golf with Senate President John McKay and comment on House Speaker Tom Feeney's necktie.
  • The special session pop quiz
    Our legislative sessions, special or otherwise, are scary affairs, but they can be even more frightening if you shirk your civic duty and lose track of what our honorables are up to. Knowledge is power. So test your own knowledge of official Florida flapdoodle with this simple current events quiz:
  • Bush, Cabinet OK new personnel rules
    State employees who "just get by" will have to do better under a set of new personnel rules approved Tuesday by Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet. But those who excel can earn more without having to move into management.
  • Protest aims at probation officer cuts
    The steps of the Old Capitol were swathed in blue Tuesday as several hundred Florida parole officers turned out to protest proposed job cuts to their ranks.
  • Lawmakers agree to restore probation cuts - ...Tuesday, the first day of a second special session called to fix the budget. Instead of cutting, they promised to restore the bulk of previous cuts in the number of probation officers.

11/27/01

  • Senate aims to make deeper education cuts
    New special session begins today; K-12 classrooms take biggest hit -- State educators knew they were getting off lightly when the Legislature took its first swipe at balancing the state budget last month. On Monday, Senate budget leaders unveiled a new round of figures, carving $591 million out of education - $204 million more than was cut in the first special session. Almost all the new cuts - $250 million - would come from money going directly to K-12 classrooms.  
  • Public schools to take brunt of proposed state budget cuts - TALLAHASSEE -- Hope that public schools would escape the state's budget crisis without significant cuts officially ended Monday as a Senate panel agreed to shave a total of $591 million from the state's education budget.-- The decision -- over $200 million more than the Legislature agreed to cut a month ago -- all but guarantees many school districts will end up laying off teachers or other staff in coming months, education advocates say. 
  • Enrollment soars at cash-strapped schools - ...Public schools have swelled with 16,649 more students than expected, the state Department of Education reported Monday. The unexpected students will cost districts an additional $75. million, which officials thought they could spend elsewhere.
  • Budget time, again
    The Florida Legislature is convening again to find ways to make up for the budget's $1.3-billion deficit. Lawmakers should look at each cut they propose very carefully.
  • Tax cut, education and health care may take hits to balance Florida's budget -TALLAHASSEE · Advocates for public schools, universities, health care providers and juvenile justice agencies are bracing for the worst as Florida legislators return to the capital today to repair the state budget's $1.3 billion shortfall.
  • Budget cuts will spare solicitor general after all
    TALLAHASSEE -- Even as the ax falls throughout Florida government, one of the state's best-paid lawyers will keep his job after all.
  • Welcome back: Show us some statesmanship
    Old hands in the Legislature must feel a little sheepish about their return engagement here in the capital, where the sequel to last month's special session is now playing. (And we'd like to mean that figuratively.) 
  • No excuses -- It's irrelevant that other states are facing the same financial problems as Florida.
  • Juvenile Justice Defends Priorities
    TALLAHASSEE - The state Department of Juvenile Justice is scrambling to fend off budget cuts that would delay opening two new detention centers totaling 1,150 beds. ...
  • Democrats fret over Capitol office politics
    TALLAHASSEE -- Republicans in the Legislature promise that the redrawing of legislative districts will be the most open in Florida's history. But what happened Monday didn't make Democrats feel any more confident about that. 
  • Argenziano ousted from key House finance panel
    The feisty lawmaker learned of her removal by Speaker Tom Feeney on the eve of a special budget-paring session.

 

11/26/01

  • One budget fight remains to be settled in courts
    Somewhat forgotten, as Gov. Jeb Bush and our Legislature face the state budget crisis this week, is that they were supposed to be facing each other in court.
  • Washington, D.C., is taxing Florida
    Senate President John McKay, R-Bradenton, knows that the federal government can, and will, pick Florida's pocket. He has told anybody who will listen that Congress will cost the state of Florida $4 billion a year pretty soon...
  • Florida's sales tax rife with loopholes, breaks for special interests -TALLAHASSEE · It was nearly midnight on the closing day of the 2001 legislative session when the Senate's top budget writer quietly tucked a $300,000 tax break for a hometown water bottler into a must-pass bill.- 
    The beneficiary was the Florida Coca-Cola Bottling Co. The tax break shielded the Dasani brand of water, bottled in Jacksonville, from the state's 6 percent sales tax.
  • Unlikely pair to tackle state's budget shortfall-- TALLAHASSEE -- With Florida's top legislators still bruised from last month's budget battle, the job of fixing Florida's $1.3 billion shortfall will go this week to an unlikely, but like-minded, pair of second-tier legislative leaders.
  • Budget back on cutting boar
    Less squabbling and deep, far-reaching cuts are in the forecast for the special session that begins Tuesday.
  • Tight state budget a lesson to educators
    Minimal cuts likely will get worse and schools are being forced to make tough choices on programs and teachers.
  • Politicians should quit rationalizing Florida's failures- Politicians seems to be put off by our newspapers doing their jobs and holding the politicians accountable for their actions. Too bad. Rationalization has always been a trait of those in denial, and it appears the politicians who take pride in being cheap are riding their denial higher than ever.
  • Budget Shortfall Agenda Criticized
    TALLAHASSEE - When legislators return to the Capitol on Tuesday to deal with a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall, Gov. Jeb Bush and Republican lawmakers will stick to two guiding principles: cut spending, with no tax hikes.-- But two well-known economists, including this year's Nobel Prize winner in economics, say that may deepen problems for Florida's economy.
  • Spare juvenile justice from budget offenses
    After warning for three years about a rise in juvenile crime that didn't happen, Florida legislators plan to cut programs that have helped to reduce juvenile crime just as the slowing economy makes those programs more important...
  • State budget cuts force closure of 4-H camps for kids
    State budget cuts will hit home next summer for 4-H participants in Leon and 16 other North Florida counties when a summer camp open since 1946 closes its doors.

11/25/01

  • It's Graham vs. Bush in battle over regents -Deciding the future of Florida's university system is turning into a titanic clash between the state's two most important political leaders: Jeb Bush and Bob Graham.
  • Debt vs. jobs
    Gov. Jeb Bush is urging the state Legislature to increase the state's borrowing for the specific purposes of creating new jobs at a time when the economy is flat.
  • Budget back on cutting board
    TALLAHASSEE -- Having spectacularly failed once to bring Florida's budget into balance, a more sober and determined Legislature will try again in a second special session beginning Tuesday.
  • Waking up - Our position: The Legislature's second time around has no room for error.
  • Editorial: Do better by the state in the 'do-over' session
    The Palm Beach Post
    When the Republicans who run Florida's government tried to stitch up a $1.3 billion budget gap last month, they broke the rules of arithmetic and constitutionality. This time, they are ready to do business in the right way. Unfortunately, what they want to do right is still wrong.
  • Legislators return to trim budget
    Intangibles tax dispute nearer to resolution
    Budget cuts, take two. Three and a half weeks after their initial attempt to balance the state budget imploded, lawmakers return to Tallahassee this week to try again - albeit with more of the groundwork completed this time.
  • Try These Ideas First
    State lawmakers need not cut, slash and burn their way toward a balanced budget this Tuesday when they reconvene for their second special session to find $1.3 billion to avert Florida's fiscal crisis.
  • Golf attraction gets tax subsidy, we get tourists
    TALLAHASSEE -- Every year Florida chunks out a $2-million subsidy to the Professional Golf Hall of Fame at St. Augustine, which is the centerpiece of a luxury resort. What didn't seem like a lot of money when legislators approved it in 1993 might look more precious now as they turn again, under the hammer of a budget deficit, to cutting health care and social services for pregnant working women, troubled teenagers and other citizens who need the state's help considerably more than golfers do.
  • Lower-income Floridians brace for special session

11/24/01

11/23/01

11/21/01

  • Legislature braces to try again - Bush says House will defer intangibles tax cut - A week before lawmakers return to Tallahassee to continue chopping away at a $1.3 billion revenue shortfall, the state tax on stocks and bonds continued to fixate politicians.
  • Mr. Feeney's conflict
    Our position: The House speaker should be banned from lobbying local officials.
  • His day job
    For the sake of the public trust he holds, Florida Speaker of the House Tom Feeney should avoid the appearance of conflict and quit his lobbying day job.
  • Budget cuts may spare community colleges -OCALA -- Florida's new seamless system of education showed signs of strain Tuesday after the state Board of Education agreed that Florida's community colleges should be spared the pain of budget cuts.-- University representatives were not pleased. They don't think their institutions should have to absorb a disproportionate share of the cuts.
  • Region Taking A Major Hit
    James Judd is a living symbol of the excellence of South Florida's cultural scene and its current fragility.
  • Bright Futures faces review
    Florida's Bright Futures scholarship program -- loved by thousands of families as a sure way to pay for college but detested by public university presidents -- got its first airing Tuesday by the new state board created to tackle such dilemmas.

11/20/01

  • Schools take back seat to tourism plea
    When the lobbyist for local hotels asked legislators Monday to continue pumping more than $100 million into supporting their industry, legislators nodded in agreement. One even talked about how to spend more tax money on tourism marketing.
  • Juvenile crime will climb as dollars fall -WEST PALM BEACH -- More than a third of the juvenile delinquents on probation in Palm Beach County will go unsupervised and a successful Treasure Coast boot camp may close if proposed state budget cuts are approved, officials said Monday.
  • Juvenile detentions face cuts - TALLAHASSEE -- A week before lawmakers begin a special budget-cutting session, Juvenile Justice officials warned Monday they likely can't afford to open 800 beds in soon-to-be-completed residential facilities, including nearly 300 in South Florida.
  • Tax reform is obligation of lawmakers
    It's sounding like a refrain from a song you desperately want to forget: Let's pass a constitutional amendment. Here in Florida, insurmountable problems arise from amendments adopted in haste and regretted at leisure. Amendments are almost impossible to repeal. 

11/19/01

11/18/01

  • The cheap state
    Florida politicians like to talk about the burden of taxes, but the reality is that the state is shortchanging its schoolchildren, its retirees and its economy.
  • Personality wins elections, Bush says -TALLAHASSEE -- A year before he faces reelection, Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday that campaigns are won and lost on the candidates' personalities, not their ideology.
  • Lobbyists have little to fear in tax reform
    TALLAHASSEE -- You can foretell what's going to come out of a meeting here by how many lobbyists think it demands their time. Only one was on hand Wednesday when the state Tax Reform Task Force convened for an advertised public hearing. The lobbyists were more gainfully occupied upstairs, by the dozens, at the Board of Administration, which was deciding how to let private investment firms profit from the state's $100-billion pension fund. The risks will be borne by employees and teachers who choose to speculate with benefits that until now have been guaranteed.
  • McKay pushes to cut sales tax to 4 pct. TALLAHASSEE -- (AP) -- Florida Senate President John McKay said Wednesday he wants to cut the 6 percent state sales tax to 4 cents on the dollar and make up the money by repealing a myriad of sales tax exemptions.
  • Talking tough on a tax
    One of Florida's oldest but least understood taxes has emerged as the pivot point of a contentious political fight sharply dividing the state's ruling Republicans.

11/17/01

  • Schools' governing system challenged
    Opponents of Florida's recently restructured university system -- including U.S. Sen. Bob Graham -- launched an initiative Friday to allow voters to decide next November on a new governing structure for the state's 11 public universities.
  • Forecast: Lots of tax reform talk, no action
    They are using the "T" word in the state Capitol these days.
  • Foes bash Bush but love one another
    A gathering of Democratic candidates for governor is a friendly affair. "We all agree on everything," one says.
  • Don't bail out Republicans, Democratic leader urges
    TALLAHASSEE -- State Democratic Party Chairman Bob Poe is asking Democrats in the Florida Legislature to avoid helping Republicans fix the state's budget problems.
  • Keep Full Service School Program
    To most of the people working to serve Floridians' human needs, it was obvious that the recent round of budget cuts would be detrimental to some of the state's most vulnerable citizens. The budget slashing isn't over yet. The Legislature is about to convene in its second special session of the fall season to try again.

11/16/01

  • Capitol Corner: Fashioning the pension fund plan
    If the meeting weren't so boring, the show would have been almost funny. Tallahassee's best-dressed crowd and their even more well-to-do clients coping with three hours of excruciating details.
  • McKay's attempt at tax reform
    "The difficult we do immediately," say the Navy's Seabees. "The impossible takes a little longer." In Florida, it would seem that Senate President John McKay has set the bar infinitely higher by proposing a constitutional amendment to modernize the tax structure. The House is so hostile that even a mere 61-vote majority was already said to be an impossible dream. A constitutional amendment requires 72 votes. From what pocketful of miracles would McKay pull those?
  • Broward officials beg legislators for mercy from state budget cuts - Twelve days before returning to Tallahassee for a second time to grapple with a $1.3 billion budget gap, Broward legislators got an earful Thursday about the damaging impact of spending cuts.
  • Pension choices place onus on employees, state
    The State Board of Administration's precedent-setting decision to diversify investment choices for public employees means that the state now has the ethical responsibility of educating workers about differing financial options.
  • University of Florida drops two programs in budget cuts- GAINESVILLE -- University of Florida officials will close the school's inpatient children's mental health unit and the poultry science program as they begin to shave their budget by $22 million.
  • Tenure busters...Still, the fact that lawmakers are even pushing bills to establish "guidelines" for firing tenured faculty and to require teachers and professors to swear loyalty oaths serves to once again point out what a colossal bill of goods university presidents were sold when they agreed to support Gov. Jeb Bush's new "seamless" educational governance plan.
11/14/01
  • Florida lawmakers should continue to keep their hands off public-access laws.
    In a legislative special session last month, Florida House Speaker Tom Feeney stuck to his pledge not to disassemble the state's public records and meetings laws. He should not budge from that commitment when he and his colleagues meet in another special session next month.
  • State attorney warns against cuts in programs
    By Bill Douthat, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
    Officials Tuesday warned that Palm Beach County might be in store for a higher crime rate and more drug abusers and young delinquents on the street unless state lawmakers fix a $1.3 billion budget shortfall. "It's going to undo the years of progress..."
11/12/01
  • Budget knife cuts juvenile programs
    Rifle through the archive of recent Florida crises and you will come to 1994, when a series of tourist murders threatened to ruin the state's reputation as a carefree vacation playground.
  • Redistricting plans hijacked Legislature
    TALLAHASSEE -- Debate still festers, as it may forever, over whether the presidency was stolen in Florida last year. It's for certain that the Legislature was. Why is no one in a lather over that?

 

 

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