The Senate approved a pared-down budget this morning by a 27-13 vote despite Democrats’ objections to about $1 billion in cuts to education and health care programs to help close a $2.3 billion deficit.
Sen. Gary Siplin of Orlando cast the sole Democratic vote in favor of the bill (SB 2A).
The Senate bill includes a $700 million raid on the Lawton Chiles Endowment _ $300 million more than the House version _ and puts a halt to the Florida Forever land-buying program, which is not included in the House proposal.
Democrats tried but failed to amend the spending cuts by closing tax loopholes in real estate transactions and corporate income taxes.
This year’s budget deficit could grow by another $700 million before the fiscal year ends on June 30 and next year’s revenues are expected to be even worse: economists have projected a $4.4 billion deficit and that number, too, keeps increasing.
The constitution requires that the budget balance and that the state not run in the red.
Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson acknowledged that but said lawmakers should have looked at revenue options like closing the tax loopholes.
“My constituents are saying you have an obligation…to make sure we don’t suffer during hard economic times,” said Lawson, D-Tallahassee.
Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander said lawmakers could consider those options during the regular legislative session that begins in March but they must first make government first efficient.
“Unlike our federal friends, we don’t get to borrow unlimited money. we don’t get to print money. We have to make our revenue and our expenses line up,” said Alexander, R-Lake Wales. “First step to prove to people …is to clean up our own house and get it right.”
The House is expected to pass its version of the budget later today and the two sides will begin negotiations over their differences.

From House Speaker Ray Sansom, here’s the legislature’s schedule for the next week:

Until 9 p.m. tonight: House and Senate committees will conference to hash out differences between the two budget proposals.

Saturday noon: The chamber’s budget chairman will begin negotiations on any outstanding issues.

Saturday 5 p.m.: Sansom and Senate President Jeff Atwater will start negotiations on further outstanding issues.

Sunday: budget bills printed.

Wednesday: final vote in both chambers.

Florida House lawmakers just opened the second day of debate on their latest round of budget cuts with a new wrinkle: A stop watch feature on the chamber’s electronic board counts down the debate on each side of an issue.
The board, normally used to record votes and identify which bill is being debated, now includes a green stopwatch that counts down time for supporters of a bill and a red stop watch, which keeps track of opponents time.
Different issues will receive different amounts of time, up to 90 minutes. That time will be equally divided between each side.
Republicans said the feature was to make them more “efficient.” Democrats didn’t say anything, but agreed to the time limit in a Rules Committee meeting earlier this week.
“I think it will prove very productive for us,” said House Speaker Ray Sansom, R-Destin.

The Senate this morning passed a resolution sponsored by Boca Raton Democrat Ted Deutch supporting Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip.
“There are those who believe that there is not much to be accomplished simply in issuing a resolution. There are those who argue that …with so much at stake with our state that perhaps wading into other areas of the world may not be necessary,” Deutch said.
Nevertheless, he concluded, each Floridian has the obligation “to ensure that there is great support in opposing terror wherever it takes place.”
The measure was approved by a voice vote.

Gov. Charlie Crist today met with the attorney threatening to sue the state for raiding the historic settlement with tobacco companies to help close a $2.3 billion spending gap.
Tampa lawyer Steve Yerrid, one of the lawyers responsible for the $11.3 billion settlement in 1997 that created the Lawton Chiles Endowment, said Crist assured him the fund will be replenished when Florida receives its share of a federal economic stimulus package.
Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, this morning also made the same promise to Democrats. The Senate budget plan taps $700 million from the fund, cutting it by more than half and leaving a balance of about $500 million. Earnings from the fund are used to pay for health care programs for children and the elderly.
“There is no such thing as an assurance,” Yerrid said before meeting with House Democrats, recalling that he received similar promises from lawmakers who failed to use the fund to pay for anti-smoking ads geared towards teens as originally intended. Yerrid sued the state over that issue, which was resolved in 2006 when voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring at least 15 percent of the fund’s interest earnings on anti-smoking efforts.
Tobacco companies that participated in the settlement contribute $400 million per year toward the fund.
Yerrid is reassembling part of the dream team that won the settlement with the tobacco companies and is threatening to sue the state if the fund is depleted further. Last year, the late Gov. Lawton Chiles’ widow, Rhea, gave Crist the okay to take $350 million from the fund to help pay for health care programs during another budget-cutting session. That was never repaid.
“I’m not a stranger to these assurances. But I’m not a stranger to the courthouse either,” Yerrid said.

Democratic CFO Alex Sink, one of the early voices calling for a special session on budget cuts, just sent this letter to Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Ray Sansom criticizing their proposals to tap reserves and trust funds to help patch $1 billion of a $2.3 billion hole in the state’s $65 billion budget.
From the letter:

Draining our citizens’ savings accounts and jeopardizing the future funding of our children’s health care are not in the best interest of Florida’s taxpayers. As Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, I urge you to find sensible reductions for non-essential programs, identify proposals to make government more efficient and reduce Florida’s recurring expenses while still preserving our government’s core services.

But it’s not just Republican leaders in the legislature looking to spend the budget stabilization fund and the Lawton Chiles Trust Fund. We remind you of Gov. Charlie Crist’s comments earlier this week:

“What are we supposed to do? Sit around and admire that money? I mean, it’s there for a reason. The reason is to utilize it when you’re in tough times. Here we are.”

Lawmakers are poised to allow the commissioner of education, appointed by the governor, to cut teachers’ and school district workers’ salaries in the event of a financial emergency.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee approved a bill (SB 6A) creating the change despite objections that it is unconstitutional. It is now headed to the Senate floor.
“This is purely and simply the commissioner of education wanting to inject himself into the collective bargaining system that has worked very well for 35 years,” teachers’ union attorney Ron Meyer argued. Meyer said a mechanism is already in place to allow local school board officials to handle financial crises.

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Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty’s resignation today means Gov. Charlie Crist will make an appointment to serve the remainder of her term, which expires in November 2010.
Assuming Crist, a Republican, taps a fellow Republican to fill the south-county District 4 commission seat, there are at least three potential candidates to watch.
Find out more after the jump…..

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For the third time since 2006, a Palm Beach County commissioner has resigned under the cloud of a federal corruption investigation.
Read about it here.

The Senate budget committee approved a bill closing the $2.3 billion budget gap in a 14-7 vote along partisan lines _ nearly.
Seven of the eight Democrats voted against the bill, which includes about $1 billion in cuts to programs and services and uses money from trust funds and savings to cover the rest.
Sen. Gary Siplin, an Orlando Democrat, voted in favor of the bill despite the Senate Democratic caucus decision yesterday to vote against it today in the Ways and Means committee and again on the floor tomorrow.

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Next in line on the state’s chopping block: a $21 million cut to Florida Forever. The proposed cut means the state’s landmark conservation program would lose its ability this year to finance $300 million in bonds and buy more land.
The largest of its kind in the United States, Florida Forever is responsible for the public acquisition, and protection, of 1.8 million acres, including parks and beaches in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties.
Sen. J.D. Alexander, a Lake Wales Republican and head of the Senate Ways & Means Committee, sent out this message tonight:

“Florida Forever is a good program, but it is not a critical program. In light of the reductions being taken in other areas of our state budget, I believe suspending funding for this fiscal year, is the best course of action. Every dollar saved means less cuts to education, healthcare, and other vital budget areas.”

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Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander dropped in on Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson late this evening seeking Democratic support of the budget, at least in Alexander’s committee tomorrow morning.
Earlier today, the Democratic caucus voted to oppose the budget both in Alexander’s Ways and Means Committee and on the floor on Friday.
Alexander said later he wanted unanimous support for the budget because Senate solidarity would give him a leg up in negotiations with the House.
“It would be nice to have a more unified position,” Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said, acknowledging that cutting the budget by $2.3 billion to bring the state back into the black isn’t pleasant for anyone.
“Every senator here would like to vote no. But we have a constitutional responsibility to balance the budget and work with our friends down the hall,” he said.

The two top budget councils in the House are moments away from pushing out their proposals to patch the $2.3 billion hole in the state budget.
But before we get there, here’s Pre-K Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Anitere Flores, R-Miami, explaining the difference between Gov. Charlie Crist’s budget proposal and the plan from House Republicans:
“Comparing our budget to the governor’s budget is a little bit like comparing apples and shoes. The reason I don’t say apples and oranges is because apples and oranges are both fruits so they’re both kind of similar, actually …. The governor is just working with a different set of reality than we are.”
Listen here:

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It’s a new year, but for Rep. Alcee Hastings the same issues are still on the table. The Palm Beach Democrat is taking aim at two of his favorite topics — temporary protected status for Haitians and improving the voting process — with legislation introduced this week.
The first bill to be submitted, called the Haitian Protection Act, would allow Haitians to live and work in the United States for a limited period of time rather than be returned back to Haiti.
Hastings has been a vocal advocate of temporary protected status, which can be granted to countries experiencing severe natural disasters or armed conflict. Haiti was ravaged by four consecutive storms this past fall and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement resumed deportations on Dec. 5.
“It is outright shameful that our government has continued to reject Haiti’s pleas for this vital assistance at a time when the Haitian government is doing everything possible to bring their country out of chaos and destruction,” Hastings said in a statement on Tuesday. “It is imperative that the United States seize every current opportunity to put our struggling neighbor on a path to sustained development.”

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Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer, far left, said he won’t run for Republican National Committee chairman and instead would support Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, left, for the post.
From Greer’s release:

“Michael has everything that the GOP desperately needs right now: the ability to communicate our message from a fresh point of view, an appreciation of how we can use technology to build the party, and the ability to reach out to new voters,” noted Greer. “Democrats are not the only people calling for change. These are our priorities in Florida and they must also be our priorities on a national level.”

Newly minted Palm Beach congressman Tom Rooney just took the oath of office yesterday, but younger brother Brian is already pondering his own run for Congress as early as 2010.
Rooney, a Republican like his brother, plans to move from Michigan to Florida with his family after his third child is born this spring.
“I’m very comfortable throughout the state,” he said in an interview with The Palm Beach Post. “My first priority is what’s best for my family.”
An Iraq war veteran and lawyer, Rooney said he’s interested in running for a House seat, but was open to other political roles.
“It’s just a matter of assessing the situation once we get on the ground there,” he said.
Although he mentioned the Treasure Coast and Collier County as two possible places to call home, where Rooney moves in Florida is largely contingent on where political opportunities exist.

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It was easy to spot Palm Beach Congressman Tom Rooney’s family in the Capitol on Tuesday. The youngest children were all sporting white knit sweaters with “Rooney” in black block letters on the back and a red and blue Republican elephant on the front.
“The mother and dad have them too, but they’re afraid to wear them,” Rooney’s mother Sandy joked. “They wore them for the Christmas card though.”
Tuesday marked Rooney’s transition from congressman-elect to full-fledged member of the House of Representatives, where he joins incumbent Palm Beach representatives Ron Klein, Alcee Hastings and Robert Wexler, all Democrats.
After the official ceremony on the House floor, individual members posed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. For Rooney, it was a family event, with at least 40 members traveling from Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida to attend. That includes 23 children, 6 brothers and sisters, their spouses, cousins, and his parents.
“We have a huge family,” said Rooney. His youngest of three sons, 2-year-old son Seamus, fiddled with his father’s brand-new congressional lapel pin while waiting to see Pelosi.

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Lead-footed drivers are in the hot seat as lawmakers look for ways to keep the courts afloat in an ever-worsening economy.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate have agreed to hike all traffic tickets $10, add $25 to speeding tickets more than 15 miles over the limit and do away with the 18 percent reduction of speeding fines for attending driving school.
Tickets would go from $125 to $150 for driving 15-19 mph over the speed limit and from $150 to $175 for driving 20-29 miles per hour over the speed limit.
Both sides have also agreed to allow judges to impose a fine when adjudication of guilt is withheld in felony and misdemeanor cases. That would generate about $2.2 million this year and $8.7 million next year.
In all, the increases would bring in up to $15 million in the three months remaining in this fiscal year and up to $63 million next year, nearly half of it coming from the $10 increase on traffic tickets.
The money would be used to pay for the courts, public defenders and state attorneys.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush is sending e-mails out now to friends letting them know he’s not running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Mel Martinez in 2010.
Here’s his short e-mail:

While I will always have more than fond memories of my years in public office and was humbled by the outpouring of support I received over the last few weeks, now is not my time to be running for office. To sum it up, in the words of Dr. Stephen Covey, I have decided to put “First Things First”.

I will continue to stay involved in the advocacy of a vibrant, growing Republican Party and with it, 21st Century conservative solutions to the challenges we face.

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Gov. Charlie Crist took news in good stride this morning that his Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development is on the chopping block.
Lawmakers are looking to cut $11.5 million from the Visit Florida tourism promotion office; $24 million from the Quick Action Closing Fund, which the state uses to attract new businesses; and $200,000 from a program that is supposed to entice film and entertainment projects to the state.
“On the positive front, as it relates to film specifically, there’s a movie out now that I think has been No. 1 the past two weeks — Marley & Me — that was mostly shot in Florida,” Crist said. “In fact, I had the occasion to go to the set and meet with Mr. Wilson and Mrs. Aniston and thank them for shooting the film in Florida.”

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