Tea party activists march in West Palm Beach's July 4th parade. Allen Eyestone/The Palm Beach Post

Florida Republican leaders bristled at the suggestion Wednesday from Palm Beach County schools Superintendent Art Johnson that the conservative, anti-spending tea party movement could force the district to cut 1,600 jobs in 2011-12.

“If the common-sense approach of reducing government spending and cutting taxes makes me part of the tea party movement, then pass me some sugar,” House Republican Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton said.

Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander said his spending decisions will be driven by the state’s 11.8 percent unemployment rate, not by a particular political message.

But in a page from the “All Politics is Local” chapter of Florida government, the Republican leader has a tea party activist living next door to his Lake Wales home. Alexander said he’s attended two of his neighbor’s meetings.

“He walks my dog from time to time and I have to go over and say hello to everybody,” Alexander said. “They’re very reasonable people. They are concerned about the course of the country. I welcome everybody’s involvement in the discussion of how we move the state forward.”

Sen. Don Gaetz, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Florida’s Economy, said he’s been to several tea party events in the Panhandle.

Don Gaetz

But Gaetz also disagreed that the tea party movement is contributing to any potential budget reductions for schools.

“The reason education is having to tighten its belt is because there is less money coming in the door,” Gaetz said.

“And that’s not the fault of the tea party people. That’s the fault of deteriorated economy.”

Tags: Adam Hasner, Art Johnson, Don Gaetz, J.D. Alexander, Jeff Atwater, Tea Party movement

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 1:21 pm and is filed under Palm Beach County, legislature, state budget. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.