State Budget: Key Legislators Criticize Governor Charlie Crist’s State Budget Proposals
Legislative appropriations committees have begun analyzing Gov. Crist’s proposed $69.2-billion state budget for fiscal year 2010 – 2011. The governor’s budget, which is $2.7 billion higher than the state’s 2009 – 2010 budget, proposes increased education spending, a cut in the corporate tax rate, a revival of the back-to-school sales tax holiday, and no increases in college and university tuition. The budget proposal supports the additional expenditures by assuming among other things, that Florida will receive $1.2 billion in new federal stimulus funding for Medicaid, that the state will receive $433 million from revenues under a potential Seminole Indian gaming compact, and that $585 million will be “swept” from various state trust funds and the Lawton Chiles Endowment.
Legislative reaction to the governor’s budget was not positive. When Office of Policy and Budget Director Jerry McDaniel appeared before the House Appropriations Council on Education and Economic Development on February 2, 2010, Rep. Denise Grimsley (R-Lake Placid) told him, “There’s nothing here I can use.” Rep. Grimsley chairs the House Health Care Appropriations Committee, which has the task of funding a Medicaid shortfall currently estimated at $1.8 billion.
Council Chair David Rivera (R-Miami), the House’s chief budget writer, was one of several members who questioned the decision to reduce the state’s reserves to $250 million and its potential impact on bond ratings. He asked Mr. McDaniel, “Do you think the governor would be comfortable with this low level of reserves if he were going to be around for another four years as governor?”
Mr. McDaniel told the council members that he recognized the legislative concerns about the budget assumptions, but “we’re going to stick with the budget recommendation we have now.” He added that Gov. Crist would return with a revised budget, probably late in the legislative session, if the assumptions behind the $69.2-billion spending plan prove to be unrealistic.
The governor’s plan also came under criticism the following day when Mr. McDaniel testified before the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. Committee Chair JD Alexander (R-Lake Worth), while praising Gov. Crist’s “aspirations,” said that “we’re asking our committees to look at a more austere budget than the one presented today.”
Politics: Rasmussen Poll Gives Former Speaker Rubio a 12-Point Lead over Gov. Crist in the Republican U.S. Senate Primary
Former House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-Miami) leads Gov. Charlie Crist by 12 percentage points in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. George LeMieux, according to a survey of likely Republican voters released on February 1, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports.
Mr. Rubio received the support of 49 percent of respondents, Gov. Crist was supported by 37 percent, three percent indicated support for another candidate, and 11 percent were undecided. The survey also found that 43 percent of likely Republican voters either somewhat disapproved (27 percent) or strongly disapproved (16 percent) of Gov. Crist’s performance as governor.
In its broader survey of likely voters, Rasmussen found that both Gov. Crist and Mr. Rubio enjoy strong leads over the presumptive Democratic candidate, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-17th Congressional District), with Gov. Crist leading by 48 percent to 33 percent, and Mr. Rubio leading by 49 percent to 32 percent.
The automated telephone survey of 1,000 likely voters, including 449 Republican likely voters, was taken on January 27, 2010. The margin of error for the Republican-only questions is five percentage points and the margin of error for the all-voter questions is three percentage points.
Utility Regulation: Senate Committee Passes Public Service Commission Ethics Legislation; Joint Committee Seeks Applicants for Public Counsel
On February 2, 2010, the Senate Committee on Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities passed legislation that would bar Public Service Committee (PSC) staff members from engaging in ex parte discussions of issues before the PSC and impose a broad two-year lobbying ban on former commissioners and staff members.
The bill, SB 1034 by Sen. Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey), explicitly responds to issues that arose in 2009 regarding questionable or improper communication between PSC staff members and regulated companies. Sen. Fasano called private discussions between a staff member and a representative of a party “one of the most egregious violations of the public trust,” and said, “Without new safeguards to ensure that one side of the case does not get a leg up on the other, decisions of the commission will never be fully trusted by the public.”
In a separate development on February 1, 2010, the Joint Committee on Public Counsel Oversight decided by a vote of 7-3 to seek applications for the post of public counsel. The public counsel, a legislative appointee, represents the public before the PSC. The action did not reflect on the current Public Counsel, J. R. Kelly, according to Rep. J. C. Planas (R-Miami), co-chair of the joint committee.
Rep. Jim Waldman (D-Coconut Creek), who voted against the motion, said that the decision to seek other applicants was “essentially a vote not to reconfirm” Mr. Kelly. Sen. Dan Gelber (D-Miami Beach), who also voted “no,” expressed the concern that the vote would send a message that the Legislature did not support a public counsel who “aggressively acted on behalf of the public.”
Mr. Kelly said he would apply for reappointment.
Education: Legislative Leaders Propose Class-Size Constitutional Amendment
On February 1, 2010, two of the Legislature’s key leaders, Sen. Don Gaetz (R-Niceville) and Rep. Will Weatherford (R-Wesley Chapel), announced a plan to revise the public school class-size limits that were added to the Florida Constitution in 2002.
The proposal, which would appear on the November 2010 ballot if passed by the required three-fifths vote of each house of the Legislature, provides that compliance with class-size limits will continue to be measured on a school-by-school, rather than classroom-by-classroom, basis. In the absence of an amendment, the current school year is the last one for which compliance will be measured as a school-wide average.
The supporters of the amendment argued that the per-class limitation creates unnecessary and unpredictable costs.
Public Policy News Alert is part of our ongoing commitment to providing up-to-the-minute information about pressing concerns or industry issues affecting our clients and our colleagues. If you have any questions about this alert or would like to discuss these topics further, please contact your Foley attorney or any of the following individuals:
Marnie George
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3398
[email protected]
Michael P. Harrell
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3373
[email protected]
Robert H. Hosay
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3382
[email protected]
Jonathan P. Kilman
Orlando, Florida
407.244.3256
[email protected]
Thomas J. Maida
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3377
[email protected]
Leonard E. Schulte
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3380
[email protected]
Marnie George of The George Group assists Foley on a variety of government and public policy matters as a consultant.