The State's 103rd regular session began last Tuesday, not just with the usual gifts and flowers, but with a heavy agenda and a clear mission. Governor Bush, in his State of the State address, urged lawmakers to reform Florida's voting systems, fund teacher recruitment and retention initiatives, and to act in a bipartisan manner while tackling the "big" issues. In spite of his plea, last week the Republican-led House of Representatives passed a record 32 bills, including controversial issues such as tax cuts, campaign reform, and other major policy issues. They also passed a bill that will further cut taxes on stocks, bonds, and other intangible property.
Not only were legislators uncharacteristically busy in passing bills during the first week of the session, but the House and Senate both met to continue deliberating the state budget (see related story).
The coming week, only the second of the session, shows no signs of letting up. In fact, House and Senate budget committees will meet at 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. every day this week. Senate budget subcommittees hope to finalize their spending plans by Friday. Neither chamber is planning to meet in full session this week, further evidence that each is focused on the budget and committee processes.
The education governance proposal, which will completely restructure the operations of Florida's ten state universities, is expected to come out of bill drafting today or tomorrow. This draft has not yet been finalized, so it does not have a bill number. Hearings and deliberations on this issue will begin late this week or early next.
You can catch all of the exciting, live debates between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, as well as updates on each day's major issues, on the Florida Channel (local cable channel 47). As always, I welcome your comments and any requests for bills and their analysis. You can reach me at 644-4453 or by e-mail, kdaly@govrel.fsu.edu
As they craft next year's budget, lawmakers will have $228 million less to spend than had been previously projected. This new figure was released Friday by the Revenue Estimating Conference, a group of staffers from the Legislature, Governor's office, and certain state agencies. (The state budget is based on the estimates of how much tax revenue, mostly from the state sales tax and corporate taxes, will be collected.) The conference agreed that the recent downturn in the state's economy made incoming taxes lower than had been previously estimated. Even so, House leaders, after balancing the budget and paying the $1 billion Medicaid deficit, are hoping to cut taxes this session. The Senate, meanwhile, is taking a slower approach to tax cutting initiatives.
Lawmakers will meet every day this week to reconcile their budgets against this unfavorable news. Prior to the release of the new budget estimates, the House and Senate budget appropriations committees met and restored a few of the cuts they had previously taken. Restored funding critical to Florida State includes:
Public Broadcasting: 10.7 percent reduction in the House, rather than the 20 percent originally taken. Total reduction (revised) $1 million. The Senate still maintains the 50 percent reduction ($4.6 million).
Autism Centers: The House fully restored the Autism cut, as did the Senate, which means that funding levels revert to last year's total.
Ringling Museum: The Senate restored a 25-percent cut; the House did not originally cut the museum's funding, which means that funding levels revert to last year's total.
College Reach Out Program: The House restored funding to100 percent, while the Senate's cut still stands at 100 percent. Total Senate reduction: $4 million.
In addition, the House shifted $1.5 million, which includes funding from the Florida Atlantic University PIMS program, into a new Biotechnology/Economic Development program for the SUS. No further details were provided.
