Crist on budget and other stuff
by Dara Kam | April 21st, 2009“Good thing I’m not in the House!”
That’s what Gov. Charlie Crist said when asked about House Speaker Larry Cretul’s offer to the Senate to go along with a $1 per pack cigarette tax if the Senate would agree to the House’s budget cuts.
That would go against what Crist asked for in the budget: no tax hikes and keeping spending on education and health care programs safe.
Here’s some more of what Crist said during a Q and A with reporters at the mansion before a reception for supporters of the Washington, D.C. “Florida House.”
At his meeting with Cretul, Crist said he reminded the Speaker that state economists recently predicted that the state’s dire financial situation will begin to turn around next year with a $1 billion boost and a $2 billion the year after that: “I wanted to make sure the members are aware of that fact and that it’s our duty to deal with the facts we’re presented with today. I appreciate wanting to budget in the long term but we have to live day to day given the circumstances.”
On whether lawmakers should consider revenue estimates for the next three years when crafting the budget or take a more immediate view: “I don’t know if we know. Neither of us have a crystal ball. It’s important for us to look at these estimates, take them seriously and realize that they’re usually on the low side.”
On whether tax hikes and fee increases could hurt him in a future political run, say for U.S. Senate: “No. number one, we haven’t yet. Number two, we are in financial circumstances that have not been seen since the Great Depression and I know the people understand.”
Tags: Charlie Crist, state budget, State House, State Senate
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