More for classes, less for offices, St. Pete Times

January 25, 2009

There's growing bipartisan support for the notion that Florida's mechanism for funding public schools isn't sufficient. In Seminole County, the longtime Republican stronghold north of Orlando, there is talk about raising property taxes for schools. The state Board of Education has suggested it would appeal to the Legislature to improve schools' fiscal future. That's why it's all the more pressing that Pinellas County School superintendent Julie Janssen reduce the district's administrative costs, long among the highest in the state.

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Florida should make the sales tax work harder, St. Pete Times

January 22, 2009

State budget
Make sales tax work harder
Once more, the less fortunate are asked to bear the brunt of tough times — cuts in services and in education. Where are the beneficiaries of the sales tax economy?

For the rest of this letter to the editor, click here.

Florida CFO Sink discusses state's budget woes, Jacksonville Business Journal

January 15, 2009
By Rachel Witkowski

Improving Florida’s economy will largely depend on diversifying industries, providing more funding for education and attracting higher wage jobs, said Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink before a group at Jacksonville University’s Davis College of Business Thursday.

More state budget cuts are expected but there are tax changes that can be proposed by the state to mend the cuts, she said.

For the rest of this story, click here.

State fiscal strategy running on empty, Ocala Star-Banner

January 13, 2009


There really is nothing "special" about the current special session of the Florida Legislature. Sure, lawmakers are expected to approve a plan to erase a $2.3 billion budget shortfall for this year by again raiding state trust funds, slashing education and health care, raising traffic fines and putting a kibosh on the state's successful Florida Forever land conservation program. It is the same strategy we saw last year.

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Florida TaxWatch budget plan finds $2.68B, Orlando Business Journal

January 9, 2009

Florida can save billions of dollars by improving cost-effectiveness, increasing government productivity and enhancing revenue maximization efforts.

That’s the finding in a report issued Thursday by Florida TaxWatch. The nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute and government watchdog in Tallahassee made 42 recommendations totaling an estimated $2.68 billion in cost savings and revenue enhancements.

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The report this article is based on is available here.http://www.floridataxwatch.org./

Lawmakers to tackle budget shortfall, Tampa Bay Online

January 3, 2009
By Carl Orth

NEW PORT RICHEY - Lawmakers serving west Pasco County are gearing up for a special session of the Florida Legislature next week to work on the state's budget deficit of more than $2.3 billion.

State Rep. Tom Anderson, R-Dunedin, state Rep. John Legg, R-Port Richey, and state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, will head for Tallahassee for the overtime session, which begins Monday and runs through Jan. 16.

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Stop raiding trust fund to balance budget on backs of needy children, Treasure Coast Palm

January 2, 2009

Funny, but when Florida is looking for a good fiscal conservative, it finds one in a liberal Democrat's son, Bud Chiles. Chiles has threatened to sue the state if it continues to raid the $1.2 billion state trust created in the name of the late Gov. Lawton Chiles to sustain health programs for the young and elderly.

Meanwhile, the alleged conservatives — Gov. Charlie Crist and Florida legislators — borrowed more than $300 million from the fund in April to help balance the budget. And, instead of curbing ridiculous tax loopholes and reforming inefficiencies, they're looking at raiding even more trust funds in the face of a multibillion-dollar deficit.

So much for fiscal conservatism.

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State senator to push for giving schools financial flexibility, St. Pete Times

January 3, 2009
By Jeffrey S. Solochek

In preparation for Monday's special legislative session, Pasco County schools superintendent Heather Fiorentino has been urging Florida lawmakers to look for ways to ease spending requirements placed on school districts.

She's got a kindred spirit in Senate Education Committee chairwoman Nancy Detert, R-Venice, who has called for "100 percent flexibility" for districts.

For the rest of this article, click here.

Florida's Prison Budget: Imprison with Precision, The Ledger (Lakeland)

December 30, 2008


This month, Florida's prison population exceeded 100,000 for the first time.AC = -->

Only California and Texas have more inmates. And Florida Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil says the Department of Corrections may have to putup tents to house all the inmates. McNeil saidat the current growth trend, Florida will need 19 new prisons in the next five years. That will require the DOC budget to nearly double, to about $4 billion.

But that's not what McNeil is recommending. Instead, he wants lawmakers to re-evaluate tough mandatory-sentencing laws and concentrate on reducing high recidivism rate so inmates are less likely to return to prison once released.

For the rest of this article, click here.

Spending cuts, gambling pact at heart of state budget plan, St. Pete Times

December 19, 2008

TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers can fill a $2.3-billion budget hole by trimming government spending, nearly emptying savings accounts and approving a gambling agreement with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, according to a draft document approved by Gov. Charlie Crist.

To read the rest, click here.

Leaders say big shortfall calls for big fix, Herald Tribune

December 12, 2008
By Jeremy Wallace


Florida's budget crisis has grown so severe that some state legislators are abandoning their long-held resistance to tax increases or severe program-altering budget cuts.

So far this year and in the past two years, legislators have avoided such politically painful alternatives by tapping into reserve funds and considering quick fixes like expanded gambling to bolster the economy.

For the rest of this article, click here.

Bright Futures: College costs zoom, Jacksonville.com

December 4, 2008

State budget woes could mean some cloudy skies ahead for the state's popular Bright Futures Scholarship Program.

At the least, a $2 billion projected shortfall in the state's budget has put the program in play for a discussion in the Legislature about whether some changes should be made.

That wouldn't be all bad.

For the rest of this opinion piece, click here.

More funding needed for higher education, Sun Sentinel

By Ed. H. Moore
November 29, 2008

"You produce good jobs by having great education."

With these words, Gov. Charlie Crist endorsed a bold package of changes in both public tuition structure and governance.Florida has 28 private, not for profit, colleges and universities and 11 public colleges and universities. They are laboratories for innovation and engines of economic development. None of this is possible without the fuel that fires these activities — proper and adequate funding.

For the rest of this op ed piece, click here.

Scholarship program in legislators' looking glass, Pensacola News Journal

By Stepehn D. Price
November 27, 2008

The popular Bright Futures Scholarship Program could face legislative scrutiny next spring in the midst of a third straight year of state budget cuts.

Lawmakers have been slow to change Bright Futures, even defeating a bill earlier this year that would have increased Bright Futures grants to science, math and technology students, while decreasing awards to other fields

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Newcomers face old challenges, Naples Daily News

By Michael Peltier
November 23, 2008

Get ready to pay a little more for some things and expect a little less from others. That could be the catch phrase for the state Capitol last week as two new lawmakers were sworn in to new jobs.

Naples Republicans Tom Grady and Garrett Richter hadn’t had time to unpack before the talk of Tallahassee turned to possible budget cuts, fee increases, higher tuition and a looming $2.1 billion debt that needs to be paid by the end of June.

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BB&T funds UCF business ethics program,Orlando Business Journal

November 7, 2008

BB&T Corp. announced the donation of $1 million to the University of Central Florida College of Business Administration to create the BB&T program for business ethics.

The college is expected to receive $100,000 a year for the next 10 years to fund the program, according to a release.

For the rest of this story, click here.

Walmart model could teach school systems to manage, NewsOK

By Malcolm Berko
November 2, 2008

Dear Mr. Berko: This year, the Florida Legislature passed a $70 billion budget and $22 billion of that will be spent on public education. Ten years ago, public education spending cost $10.5 billion. That’s twice as much, and our schools (especially my alma mater, the University of Florida) are not getting twice as good. In fact, many of us would say that the quality of education is really twice as bad. Why is it that college costs increase so much each year but the quality of the education doesn’t seem to improve one bit?

To read Berko's response, click here.

"Extraordinary Times," Inside Higher Education

October 23, 2008

The University of Florida prides itself on disciplined endowment management, but officials there say it’s time to throw out the old playbook and take some greater risks.

Market downturns have taken a toll on Florida’s endowment, but university officials say they can’t afford to slow spending because state budget cuts have already been so crippling to the institution. By retaining current spending levels, the university is bucking a tried and true formula that is designed to preserve the principal of the university’s endowment, even during economic downturns.

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Legislator warns Floridians will face services and education cuts, Shorelines (Jacksonville)

By Christina Abel
October 13, 2008

Historically, Florida has been a low-tax state, and if it continues to be, residents will have to face budget cuts that will affect services and education.

That was the message state Rep. Bill Proctor, R-St. Augustine, gave Monday to the St. Johns County Civic Association Roundtable while discussing issues affecting the state and county.

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Florida's economy is in transition, needs bold leadership, Orlando Sentinel

By Mark Wilson
October 8, 2008

We at the Florida Chamber of Commerce are often asked: "Is Florida over?"

We say, no way.

But Florida is never going back to being a low-cost state. Florida is changing -- on that we can agree. We must acknowledge that Florida's economy is in transition.As Florida's economy changes, our population growth is still on pace to add 10 million residents by the year 2030. One thing is certain: Florida needs to plan better and grow smarter during the influx of the next 10 million people than we did when the last 10 million were arriving.

For the rest of this opinion piece, click here.