Gov. Rick Scott is scheduled to sign the state budget into law shortly after noon today, likely trimming back the $74.5 billion spending plan approved by lawmakers with a few million dollars worth of vetoes.

A 3 percent tuition hike for college and university students already looks doomed. Scott’s staff has leaked to a wire service details about the governor’s intention to veto the increase — which he has signaled for months.

In Palm Beach County, much of the focus is on the fate of $6.5 million approved for Palm Beach State College to begin work on a new Loxahatchee Groves campus. Scott vetoed money for the western campus two years ago — as did former Gov. Charlie Crist before him. But college officials hope the third time proves the charm for the campus cash.

PBSC last fall spent $4.5 million finalizing the purchase of land for the new site. Supporters think that could make a difference when it comes to dodging the governor’s veto pen.

“Hopefully, this is the year,” PBSC spokeswoman Grace Truman told the Palm Beach Post last week.

Scott vetoed $142.7 million in spending last year, a year after he set a record by vetoing $615 million just months after taking office. The state budget year begins July 1.

Florida TaxWatch, the business-backed non-profit that calls itself a “government watchdog,” has targeted $107 million “turkeys” they’re suggesting Gov. Rick Scott red-line as he ponders the state’s $74.5 billion spending plan.

The 107 projects add up to just one-half of one percent of the total budget, and about $60 million less than the group identified last year.

TaxWatch’s pinpointed $9,330,422 in Palm Beach County projects, including:
_ $450,000 of the $1 million lawmakers steered to Sheriff Ric Bradshaw’s violence intervention program;
_ $6.5 million for Palm Beach State College’s proposed Loxahatchee Groves campus;
_ $1,280,422 for Place of Hope at the Haven campus;
_ $100,000 for a nicotine addiction drug treatment program at Scripps Research Institute;
_ $1 million for Glades Area Street resurfacing in Belle Glade.

Two Treasure Coast projects also made TaxWatch’s hit list: $2 million for renovations at Indian River State College at the St. Lucie west campus and $200,000 for interior renovations of the Golden Gate building in Martin County.

The group also tagged a $14 million Gulf Coast State College project for a Panama City campus, something Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, wants built.

And Senate budget chief Joe Negron’s

TaxWatch identifies “turkeys” as items that were put into the budget at the last minute or without public vetting, which “circumvent lawfully established procedures,” or which steer money to special interests or local areas without going through the bidding process.

Scott has until May 24 to act on the budget. The Republican, who is running for reelection, slashed a whopping $181 million from the spending plan his first year on the job, and cut $63 million last year.

While not exactly rivaling Times Square on New Year’s Eve, anticipation is mounting across Florida over Gov. Rick Scott’s pending action on the state’s $74.5 billion budget.

Scott is heading to Chile next week for a trade mission. While Scott has until May 24 to issue vetoes and sign the spending plan into law, speculation is centered on Scott likely acting this week.

In Palm Beach County and across Florida, advocates are making a final defense of hometown items included in the budget. The budget, approved by lawmakers earlier this month, is for the year beginning July 1.

“We’ve got a lot of people working on it,” Todd Bonlarron, the county’s lobbyist, said Tuesday. “In some cases, we’re asking the governor’s office to look at some of these issues with a fresh set of eyes.”

A similar tactic is being used by Palm Beach State College, which is eager to have Scott endorse $6.5 million in state funding for the school’s Loxahatchee Groves campus.

PBSC officials have been in this spot before. Money for the new, western campus has been twice vetoed — once by former Gov. Charlie Crist and also two years ago by Scott.

But PBSC last fall spent $4.5 million finalizing the purchase of land for the new site. Supporters think that could make a difference when it comes to dodging the governor’s veto pen.

“Some of our board members have been trying to talk it up to the governor and his staff,” said Grace Truman, a PBSC spokeswoman. “Hopefully, this is the year.”

Bonlarron said the county has similar hopes for its projects. Scott last year vetoed $50,000 state lawmakers included for the county to develop a master plan for the Torry Island marina on Lake Okeechobee. It’s back this year, at $75,000.

Another $1 million in the budget is set to help the county make pipeline repairs for the Glades Utility Authority. While three projects in the financially-strapped Belle Glade-area have been vetoed by Scott in the past two years, Bonlarron said, “the county is still committed to seeking help.”

Also likely to draw a close look from the governor is $1 million budgeted for Sheriff Ric Bradshaw’s “violence prevention” unit.

Bradshaw said the program can help law enforcement intercede before a mentally unstable or violence-prone individual causes mayhem.

But Scott’s office in recent weeks has received more than 200 emails from citizens urging he veto the money. Many critics liken the program’s anonymous tip hotline for reporting suspicious neighbors to something derived from Nazi Germany or George Orwell.

For his part, Scott and his advisors have been keeping a poker face.

At visits to Miami and Jupiter today, the governor said only that he is still reviewing the budget and wouldn’t be pinned down to acting before flying to Chile.

With Gov. Rick Scott stopping at a Palm Beach County school Monday to tout teacher pay raises, the Florida Republican Party launched an internet strike on Democratic Rep. Mark Pafford of West Palm Beach, one of 11 lawmakers voting against the state’s proposed $74.5 billion budget.

‘Why Did Pafford vote against Governor’s budget that’s a win for public schools,’ was one of the headlines in a Florida GOP release that interlaced newspaper stories on the teacher pay raise with stinging words for Pafford.

Pafford was accused of being part of a ‘(Dis) appreciation week for teachers.’

“They apparently didn’t listen to my debate,” Pafford said Monday of the GOP criticism.

Pafford said he voted ‘no’ on the budget because it failed to adequately serve poor Floridians, the elderly and disabled. Mostly, he centered his opposition on the Legislature’s failure to expand health insurance to low-income residents, a battle that consumed much of the session and ended in a stalemate between the House and Senate.

“The budget is not plugged into the reality that exists outside this chamber,” Pafford said Friday on the House floor.

The GOP blast on Pafford came shortly after Scott toured Wynnebrook Elementary School in West Palm Beach, among a handful of school stops the governor plans to make this week. The budget includes $480 million that could give teachers a $2,500 pay raises by next June.

The Florida House and Senate began making their first moves toward the exit Friday, debating a $74.5 billion state budget set to be approved on the 60-day session’s final scheduled day.

The budget for the year beginning July 1 is poised to be the largest in state history. In House closing speeches, there was plenty of praise for $1 billion increase in school spending, pay raises for state employees for the first time in seven years, and dozens of hometown projects scattered throughout the budget.

There was also a measure of relief. Legislators were helped by the first budget surplus since before the recession.

“Because of fiscally sound management and making hard decision, today we can celebrate a great time of restoration,” said Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala.

Most of the outnumbered Democratic caucus, which fought unsuccessfully to expand health care to uninsured Floridians, sided with ruling Republicans on the spending plan.

“There’s light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s not another train,” said Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach.

But several Democrats called for Gov. Rick Scott to veto the budget and call lawmakers back into a later special session. Scott had allied with Democrats and the Republican-led Senate in looking to position Florida to draw $51 billion in federal Medicaid money to cover more than 1 million uninsured Floridians.

Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, was among those who indicated they will vote against the measure.

“The budget is not plugged into the reality that exists outside this chamber,” Pafford said.

Teachers and other school personnel could get a pay raise earlier than next year under a budget agreement reached Wednesday between the House and Senate.

But the deal still would require Palm Beach County and many other school districts to develop a teacher evaluation system required before the pay hikes can be distributed. The county and teachers’ union representatives have been working on an evaluation system, talks that could accelerate with the latest budget deal.

“It helps that the counties are being given this flexibility,” said Vern Pickup-Crawford, lobbyist for county schools.

Under the Legislature’s initial plan, teachers graded “effective” would be eligible for a $2,500 pay raise, beginning in June 2014. Those rated “highly effective” would be eligible for $3,500.

But Wednesday, House and Senate budget negotiators agreed to allow districts to hand out the raises before that date — as long as they were based on teacher evaluations.

The Legislature in 2011 required that teacher evaluations be shaped heavily by student performance and be in place by next year. The Florida Education Association has sued to overturn the requirement — but linking pay raises to the evaluation system could complicate that challenge.

Lawmakers had already agreed to spend $480 million this year on the pay-hikes sought by Gov. Rick Scott. But legislators insisted they be give out based on job performance, not across-the-board, as the governor recommended.

The Legislature also expanded the pool of those eligible to tap into the $480 million pool to include guidance counselors, librarians, school psychologists, social workers, principals and assistant principals. The FEA has criticized the move as likely reducing the amount available to teachers.

Scott, though, has said that all teachers should be able to get pay raises of at least $2,000 each, under the pay plan.

House and Senate budget leaders have awarded Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw $1 million for a new violence prevention unit aimed at preventing tragedies like Sandy Hook from occurring on his turf.

It’s just one-third of what Bradshaw had sought from the Legislature, but it’s a ten-fold bump from what was originally in the budget before House and Senate budget leaders finalized the state’s $74 billion budget this weekend.

Bradshaw wants to use the money for a 15-person “prevention intervention” unit made up of five deputies, five mental health professionals, five caseworkers and a 24-hour hotline where citizens can report neighbors, friends or family members they fear may harm themselves or others.

Bradshaw told lawmakers last month he hopes the hotline and the unit can stop potentially dangerous people before they act out.

Bradshaw’s proposal is a first-of-its-kind in the nation, and he hopes it will become a model for the rest of the state like his gang prevention and pill mill units.

It’s part of the magical budget conference process where House and Senate budget negotiators hash out their differences that items can get increased. In Bradshaw’s case, both the House and Senate had included $100,000 in the criminal justice budget. But over the weekend, Senate budget chief Joe Negron, R-Stuart, added another $450,000 in the Senate’s “supplemental budget” list and his House counterpart Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland, added the same amount.

The proposal still needs the blessing of Gov. Rick Scott, who has a line-item veto authority.

Gov. Rick Scott joined with the state’s largest teachers’ union late Sunday to endorse the $480 million included in the state budget for pay raises — saying it will guarantee at least $2,000 hikes for teachers around the state.

The House and Senate included the same $480 million Scott had sought. But while the governor proposed $2,500 across-the-board pay raises, legislative leaders insisted the money be based on merit.

Scott and Florida Education Association President Andy Ford said the structure of the package set to be voted on Friday by the Legislature means every teachers will get at least $2,000, but that some could pull in as much as $3,500 next year. Counties will have to develop performance measures to determine the final raises through collective bargaining.

Scott said the proposal builds “on our work to implement performance pay, while also allowing school districts the flexibility to use the $480 million in new funding to give every Florida teacher a pay raise. Our teachers are some of the best in the nation
and they deserve to be rewarded for their great work.”

Ford said, ““Through the collective bargaining process, FEA remains committed to working with local school districts to develop fair, valid, reliable and transparent processes to reward the success of Florida’s teaching force. Through bargaining with local
elected school boards, the success of such classroom personnel can be financially recognized in a manner which best meets the needs of local school districts.”

With a flurry of late-hour deal-making, House and Senate budget negotiators wrapped up work late Sunday on a $74-billion-plus state spending plan.

Senate budget chief Joe Negron, R-Stuart, said the plan could be on lawmakers’ desks as early as Monday. Florida’s constitutionally required 72-hour cooling off period begins when the budget hits the desks, clearing the way for a likely vote early Friday — the session’s final scheduled day.

Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, were quick to praise the $1 billion boost in public school spending included in the proposal. Gov. Rick Scott had sought $1.2 billion, including $480 million to provide for $2,500-across-the-board pay raises for teachers.

Lawmakers have included the $480 million. But they teacher pay raises will be distributed based on job performance, not across-the-board, as the governor sought.

The statements by Gaetz and Weatherford seemed aimed at trying to woo Scott over to their side on the teacher package.

“This is an incredible win for the teachers and students,” Weatherford said.

Gaetz called Scott  a “constructive and strong partner” who “led the way” on the teacher proposal.

“Neither the House nor the Senate nor the governor “won” in these budget negotiations,” Gaetz said. “The winners were Florida’s teachers who will be better compensated, Florida’s students who will be taught by educators recognized and rewarded for their performance.”

Palm Beach State College is positioned to draw $6.5 million for its new and controversial Loxahatchee Groves campus under state budget decisions reached late Saturday by House and Senate negotiators.

Also set to be included in the state’s $74-billion-plus spending plan is about $3 million for water projects across Palm Beach County, including $1 million for utility upgrades in financially-strapped Belle Glade and $400,000 for drainage work in Riviera Beach.

“We’ve pretty much wrapped up the numbers portion of the budget,” said Senate Budget Chief Joe Negron, R-Stuart.

Negron and his House counterpart, Rep. Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland, will continue efforts tomorrow to reach consensus on legislation and technical provisions needed to implement the budget for the year beginning July 1.

Lawmakers have been flush with cash this spring for the first time in seven years, and it showed in Saturday’s homestretch negotiations. When the House and Senate offered rival lists of utility projects and college and university building efforts, Negron and McKeel found money to finance them all.

Among spending getting the go-ahead is $1.3 million for environmental improvements on the Loxahatchee River and $475,000 for seagrass, reef and other work on the Lake Worth Lagoon.

But the Palm Beach State College money has the potential to have the biggest effect on the county.

PBSC has been working on getting a fifth campus for five years and, with Saturday’s budget agreement, looks close to landing state cash to accomplish that goal this year in Loxahatchee Groves.

Whatever is approved by lawmakers, remains subject to review by Gov. Rick Scott. He hinted this week that he may freely wield his veto pen after lawmakers vote on the budget — which is expected Friday, the legislative session’s final scheduled day.

PBSC spokeswoman Grace Truman earlier told the Post that school officials feel they have made a strong case for receiving state funds.

“We’ve had the money proposed before, even had it vetoed once, but when we spent $4.5 million last fall for the land, I think that showed our commitment to the new campus,” Truman said.

But a petition drive by almost 300 Loxahatchee Groves residents opposing expansion, and the commercial development it will bring, continues to cloud the site.

Opponents want the expansion put to a voter referendum. But the town clerk has ruled the petition failed to meet terms of the town charter. The clerk’s ruling is now subject of a lawsuit by a residents group opposed to the campus.

After six years without a raise, state workers will have a little more money in their pockets under salary increases signed off on by House and Senate leaders Saturday evening.

Under the plan, state employees who earn less than $40,000 will get a $1,400-a-year pay hike. Those earning more than $40,000 will see $1,000 increases. The average state worker salary in 2010 was about $48,000, but that includes highly paid employees such as university presidents and agency heads.

Senate budget chief Joe Negron, R-Stuart, said the $1,400 raises, about 3 percent, will go to the bulk of the state’s nearly 100,000 workers, who he said earn less than $40,000 a year.

The deal also includes one-time bonuses based on merit and performance of between $500 and $600 for about 35 percent of state workers, Negron said.

“Both sides wanted to recognize the fact that our coworkers in state government not only here in the Capitol but all throughout Florida work hard every day. We appreciate their contribution to state government to our fellow citizens,” Negron said at a Saturday evening meeting with his House counterpart Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland.

State workers last got a pay bump in 2007 with $1,000 bonuses. Their last salary increase was a 3 percent hike the previous year.

The latest deal inched lawmakers closer towards closing out negotiations over the $74 billion budget before the session ends on Friday. Gov. Rick Scott’s spending plan had included merit-based raises only. And lawmakers still haven’t conceded to his demand for $2,500 across-the-board hikes for teachers.

Negron also did a turn-around on what was considered to be a settled item regarding license tags. Last night, the House and Senate agreed to put out to bid a contract for the tags which have been manufactured by PRIDE, a private company that uses inmates, for the past three decades. The House had wanted Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises Inc. to keep the contract.

But Saturday morning, Negron said the Senate changed its mind thanks to intense lobbying by some of his colleagues.

“One of the benefits of the conference process is it enables all of us to take a final look at each of these issues and get input from members of the conference both from those who are able to be here in person and also those who are able to talk to us by phone,” Negron said.

He said “a number of senators” called to say that PRIDE has “a long and distinguished track record of working with inmates helping them to gain employment skills, life skills and other things they will need when they complete their sentence to become productive members of society who can get and keep jobs.”

Negron didn’t elaborate about the availability of post-incarceration license tag-producing jobs.

Negron and McKeel were expected to meet late Saturday evening to discuss water and beach renourishment projects.

Gov. Rick Scott’s legislative agenda headed further into the ditch Friday night, as the Senate finally bent to the House’s will and accepted a 3 percent tuition increase for college and university students.

Scott has long opposed a tuition increase. And he had an ally in the Senate for the course of the legislative session, even as the House pushed for a 6 percent hike.

But as the two sides labored into a second weekend on differences in a $74-billion-plus spending plan, the Senate finally offered to meet the House halfway, recommending a 3 percent boost. The House accepted.

Senate Budget Chief Joe Negron, R-Stuart, and his House counterpart, Rep. Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland, also agreed to $70 million for Everglades funding, settling on the Senate’s starting position and slightly more than Scott requested in his budget proposal.

Scott also continues to face a challenge from lawmakers on his bid for $2,500-across-the-board teacher pay hikes.

Negron and McKeel agreed to meet Scott’s $480 million pot of money for the raises, but they want the money distributed based on job performance and to include a larger pool of instructional personnel that would shrink what goes directly to teachers.

The two sides plan to continue talks tomorrow.

House and Senate budget negotiators were slapped Saturday by a leading tea party group for beefing up the pool of money given Gov. Rick Scott for luring companies to Florida.

Lawmakers are working through the weekend on settling differences in $74-billion-plus spending plans.

Late Friday, House and Senate conferees agreed to set aside $79.2 million as economic incentive cash controlled largely by the Republican governor — who is actually seeking $173.7 million for the fund.

The Senate had earlier low-balled the House on the issue — proposing a mere $20 million while the House recommended $73 million in its budget proposal.

But the Senate’s sudden turnaround brought a swift response from Americans for Prosperity, the advocacy group founded by the conservative Koch brothers. AFP also warred with Scott last year over his support for legislation advancing alternative energy.

“Hopefully, the Senate will rethink their decision to increase funding for these handouts, a program that amounts to little more than corporate welfare,” said AFP’s Florida director, Slade O’Brien. “Giving out taxpayer funded incentives to companies that are coming to Florida or expanding their existing business is not a proven way to encourage jobs.”

Lawmakers have been citing concerns about such giveways, especially since the recent collapse of the Treasure Coast’s Digital Domain Media Group.

Digital Domain drew $20 million in state incentives — part of $130 million it received in overall government aid. Among the losers was the city of West Palm Beach, which gave the company $2 million to begin a program locally with the Florida State University film school.

The company defaulted on loans and investments last fall, and closed its main operation in Port St. Lucie.

House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz opened negotiations Thursday evening on settling a $74-billion-plus state budget, giving lawmakers from both sides some mostly genial marching orders.

Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, took note of the throng of lobbyists and onlookers crowding a Capitol committee room saying, “There appears to be a budget surplus this year.”

He also gave some guidance to House and Senate budget conferees.

“This budget conference process is obviously about compromise,” Weatherford said. “This is not going to be a House budget. It’s not going to be a Senate budget. It’s will be our budget….make it one we can all be proud of.”

Weatherford also suggested, “We can show the people of Florida we are adults.”

Gaetz, R-Niceville, also said he expected a relatively harmonious round of horse-trading.

“We are looking now at asking you to do the heavy lifting,” Gaetz said of the budget work that is likely to consume much of the legislative session’s remaining two-plus-weeks.

Unlike recent years where the two sides were far apart on many key spending provisions, the House and Senate budgets are similar this spring.

They edged even closer after final allocations were agreed to in which the Senate slightly reduced education spending, likely trimming back its $1.2 increase for public schools to come more in line with the $1 billion boost sought by the House.

Meanwhile, the House followed suit by bumping-up its levels of spending for health and human services programs. That brought it closer to the Senate’s position.

“I think we’ve negotiated a budget framework that allows the House and Senate to both pursue their budget priorities,” said Senate budget chief Joe Negron, R-Stuart.

The Florida House approved its $74.4 billion state budget Friday, setting the stage for end-of-session negotiations with the Senate over a final spending plan for 2013-14.

The House vote was 99-17, with about one-third of the Democratic caucus opposing the proposal.

Unlike recent sessions, the House and Senate budgets are relatively close, helped along by a $1 billion budget surplus which follows six years of spending reductions.

“We prioritize people, while maintaining reserves,” said Rep. Matt Hudson, R-Naples, who helped craft health and human services spending.

The House increases public school spending by $1 billion, or an average $395-per-student. College and university tuition would jump by 6 percent under the House plan, which also sets aside $2.6 billion in reserves.

The Senate approved its $74.3 billion proposal earlier this week on a 40-0 vote. Much of the session’s remaining three weeks will be devoted to reaching a consensus  plan for the year beginning July 1.

House Democratic Leader Perry Thurston of Fort Lauderdale criticized the House proposal for failing to embrace a Medicaid expansion that could draw $51 billion to Florida over the next decade, while costing state taxpayers no more than $3.5 billion. Another 1 million Floridians could get health insurance under the approach.

Instead, House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, and other ruling Republicans unveiled a health insurance proposal Thursday that would cover only about 115,000 Floridians while costing state taxpayers $237 million a year. No federal dollars would be used in the modest expansion.

Thurston said the difference means a “big elephant stands in the way,” of his supporting the House budget proposal.

“We stand with a once in a lifetime opportunity to not only do something good, but to do great things,” Thurston said.

When Senate budget chief Joe Negron rolled out a plan last week to eliminate a longtime tax break for the insurance industry and use the savings to reduce motorist fees, insurers were caught by surprise.

By Thursday, the industry had reloaded — with insurance lobbyists lining up to plead with Negron’s Appropriations Committee to drop the plan. Several raised the possbility of insurers choosing to locate offices outside of Florida, if the incentive is lost.

In the end, the bill (SPB 7132) sailed 19-0.

Insurance representatives told senators that companies had created 44,000 jobs in Florida since 2008 — even while the state was rocked by high unemployment. They also boasted that insurers were financially strong and paid claims on time.

“But the repeal of this will have an impact,” said Paul Sanford, lobbyist for the Florida Insurance Council.

Negron wants to repeal a tax incentive on the books since 1987, which gives insurers a credit on the insurance premium tax for 15 percent of the salaries paid employees in Florida. Negron said $220 million earned through the repeal would be used to reduce motorist fees boosted in 2009 when lawmakers were scrambling to patch budget holes.

The increases were part of a $2.2 billion package of tax and fee hikes that included an increase in the state’s cigarette tax.

Negron said industry statements about the strength of the industry help make his case that the tax break is no longer needed.

“For every person who is paying less in taxes, someone is paying more,” Negron said, adding, “State Farm in 2012 had a net income of $3.2 billion. The CEO had a good year, which he deserved….he made $9.6 million. Allstate had $2.3 billion in net income for 2012. I’m happy about that. That’s a good thing. That means they’re solvent and they’ll pay claims.

“But this idea that if we decide to redeploy a tax incentive to our constituents that the apocalypse is going to occur, I don’t think the facts support that,” he concluded.

After fierce debate Friday between ruling Republicans and union-allied Democrats, the House approves an overhaul of the Florida Retirement System, the pension fund used by more than 620,000 teachers, law enforcement and other public employees.

Breaking along party lines, the House voted 74-42 for the measure (CS/HB 7011), which would close the traditional pension plan to new employees. New hires seeking a retirement account would instead be required to join a defined contribution investment plan beginning Jan. 1.

The legislation is a top priority of House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, who maintains that the Florida Retirement System is underfunded and will command increasing millions of dollars from Florida taxpayers to keep it afloat in future years, a stance disputed by many experts.

“It’s fair. It’s fiscally responsible. And it’s time to act,” said Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne.

But Democrats accused House Republicans of using scare tactics to push through a proposal which already has been rejected by fellow Republicans in the Senate.

“You’re using boogyman tactics of how the taxpayers will save money….it’s absolutely false,” said Rep. Dwayne Taylor, D-Daytona Beach.

Democrats said the legislation is not only unnecessary but potentially dangerous to the $136 billion pension fund, which is used by more than 623,000 state and local government workers and another 335,000 retirees.

The FRS is considered 87 percent funded, with most analysts acknowledging that 80 percent is the benchmark for a fund considered to be on solid financial footing.

Republican leaders, however, say that unfunded actuarial liability is $19.2 billion — a level they say is alarming. Still, those defending the fund say the shortfall exists only if every pensioner demanded their full payments at once, which analysts say would never happen.

Senate Budget Chairman Joe Negron said Thursday he wants to end a longtime tax credit for the insurance industry and use $220 million in savings to reduce motorist fees jacked up in 2009.

The proposal came after Negron’s budget committee spent weeks reviewing tax and spending policies. When the panel unearthed a 1987 credit given Florida insurance companies for the salaries they pay employees, Negron saw green.

The 15 percent tax credit was aimed at giving insurers an incentive to open offices in Florida. But Negron said the industry now looks “robust.”

By eliminating the credit, lawmakers could free money that could be used to reduce driver’s license and registration fees enacted by lawmakers scrambling to close budget holes at the height of the recession.

“I’d rather send this money back to them,” Negron told the Senate budget panel. He said legislation would be ready next week for the committee to review.

Mark Delegal, who lobbies for State Farm and other insurers, said the move was a surprise to many in the industry. He cautioned that eliminating the tax credit could make some companies reluctant to hire or keep operations in Florida.

“Companies are always looking to consolidate costs and they consider a lot of things when moving an operation to Jacksonville or somewhere else in Florida,” he said.

Lawmakers struggled in 2009 to balance the recession-ravaged state budget. Motorists took a hit, when lawmakers agreed to boost the cost of renewing a license from $20 to $48. First-time licenses went up to $48 from $27. Registering a car went from $100 to $225 that year.

Negron said the $220 million in savings the state would earn by erasing the credit would allow lawmakers to cut the 2009 increases by half.

“Over time, I hope we can eliminate that fee increase,” he said.

Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, said, “If we have the funds and we can return it to the people, I applaud you.”

House Speaker Will Weatherford released budget allocations Monday to House committees that will begin putting together next year’s state spending plan — calling for at least $1 billion more for public schools and enough cash to increase state worker pay for the first time in six years.

The Senate followed suit by also handing its budget committees their shares. While Weatherford provided a roadmap to priority items, Senate Budget Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, kept quiet about items where his chamber is looking to spend cash.

Negron, however, did criticize a “lack of leadership in Washington,” for making state budgeting more uncertain.

The Legislature’s closing weeks will be consumed with budget work. But the leaders’ allocations are essentially the public kick-off of the process.

“For the first time in seven years, we are no longer facing a significant budget shortfall,” Weatherford said Monday, in a memo to House members. ” This is not only attributable to improved economic conditions but also to your hard work by making responsible choices in tough times to balance our budget and provide a fiscally sustainable future.”

State economists Friday night enhanced their tax collection forecast, concluding that lawmakers will have more than $1 billion extra to spend this spring – even after matching the same spending and reserve accounts of the curent $70 billion budget.

Like Negron, economists concluded that Washington’s handling of automatic spending cuts that took effect March 1 has made it tougher to predict the state’s budget future.

While both sides welcome the bounty of extra cash, the House acknowledged it still skims another $300 million from state trust funds to supplement spending.

While the Senate didn’t specificially address how it handles trust funds, such raids have been common in recent belt-tightening years, usually drawing push-back from road-builders, environmentalists and other advocates angered by having earmarked funds diminished.

Weatherford, however, said pointedly that the House won’t reduce transportation funds, which Gov. Rick Scott and others see as key to fostering more business development in Florida.

In other provisions, the speaker said that the House will restore to Florida’s 12 public universities the $300 million they lost last year in a budget cut.  Weatherford, who is pushing to revamp the Florida Retirement System, also pledged to steer more than $500 million into the $126 billion account to reduce its unfunded liability.

The Florida Retirement System, used by more than 600,000 state workers, teachers, police officers and firefighters, would change dramatically under a state House proposal to close the plan’s traditional pension to new employees, according to a state study released Friday night.

The analysis by Milliman, a Virginia-based actuarial firm, concluded that the move would likely increase the plan’s cost for employees. These workers began contributing 3 percent of their pay to take part in the plan for the first time, beginning in 2011.

Also, within as little as seven years, more employees could belong to the 401(k)-style investment plan than the traditional defined benefit plan. The shift  would contribute to a likely change in how the $122 billion FRS invests its holdings,  concluded Milliman, who completed the report for the state’s Department of Management Services.

House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, who is spearheading the pension change, said the report will help lawmakers map a course for the FRS when the legislative session begins next month.

“We are reviewing the study received from the actuary and will derive from it the fiscal impact of our plan to reform Florida’s outdated pension system,” Weatherford said. “Ultimately, we believe that reducing the taxpayer exposure to Florida’s pension liability and creating greater fiscal predictability in our budget is in the best interest of all Floridians.”

The pension fund currently is 87 percent funded — with Gov. Rick Scott recommending in his budget that state lawmakers add $552 million in taxpayer money to fund the state’s share of the fund’s liability.

It’s those payments Weatherford and other supporters of the plan would like to see reduced. Florida’s fund is currently considered strong by most analysts, with the recommended minimum level of funding usually considered to be 80 percent.

Unions oppose ending the defined benefit option for new employees.

They say the move would undermine a strong pension plan and that it is driven by politics — with the Republican-controlled Legislature intent on weakening union strength in Florida.

“This is more about ideology than money,” said Rich Templin, spokesman for the AFL-CIO.

The Florida Retirement System has 623,011 currently employed members, including teachers, state workers, and many local government employees, police officers and firefighters.

Within the system, workers currently can choose between the traditional pension or, for the past decade, an optional 401(k)-like plan. The pension remains the favorite, though, with more than 500,00 employees enrolled, compared with only about 100,000 in the inverstment plan.

The pension fund has another 334,682 retirees enrolled who already collect benefits.

Closing the plan to new employees will rob the traditional pension fund of its stream of new dollars, Milliman concluded. It will also create a system where only older workers looking forward to gaining larger pensions, remain in the fund.