Budget Hole Has Tax Exemptions in Sites Again, Tampa Tribune

December 21, 2008
By David Royse

TALLAHASSEE - Businesses across Florida are carefully watching the Legislature with the deepening cash crisis facing state government leading to the most serious talk of eliminating some tax exemptions since former President John McKay took on the tax structure eight years ago.

Democrats and advocates for government programs that annually face a difficult time in the budget process have long suggested that Florida's hodge podge of exemptions to the sales tax are unfair and should be reviewed.

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Serving the people--and themselves, Herald Tribune

December 21, 2008
By Joe Follick


TALLAHASSEE - In campaign ad attacks this year, state Rep. Keith Fitzgerald was criticized for "double dipping" for holding jobs as a part-time lawmaker and as a professor at state-funded New College in Sarasota. The ads showed an overweight man, not Fitzgerald, slobbering over a bowl of ice cream.

But in an "only in Tallahassee" moment, the man who oversaw the Republican campaign against Fitzgerald and other House Democrats is at the center of his own double-dipping controversy by taking a job at a community college after snagging tens of millions of dollars in funding for his new employer.

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A better way for Florida's budget, St. Pete Times

December 21, 2008

To hear the talk from Tallahassee, Florida need do nothing differently to weather the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Gov. Charlie Crist's suggestions for dealing with a $2.3-billion shortfall during next month's two-week special session are the same old ideas that are neither bold nor visionary. He proposes cutting state agency spending across the board, draining state savings accounts, borrowing money to build facilities in lieu of paying in cash and ratifying the controversial gambling pact with the Seminole Indian tribe. Such a short-term strategy digs an even deeper budget hole for next year. There is a better way, and it involves raising some additional revenue.

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Study: $7.6B impact from UCF med school, Orlando Business Journal

December 19, 2008
By Melanie Stawicki Azam


The University of Central Florida College of Medicine would create more than 30,000 local jobs and have a 10-year economic impact of $7.6 billion, according to a study released Dec. 19 by the university.

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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.

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Private colleges: protect the future, Times Union

December 18, 2008

The state's monstrous budget gap has put a fright into the leaders of Florida's colleges and universities. For good reason. It's a gap that could swallow up the state's future if too many students are cut off from college. Lawmakers recently learned that Florida will be grappling with a $2.3 billion budget deficit this year. That deficit, combined with declining property tax revenues and the continuing losses from stagnant growth and other problems related to the recession and the credit crisis, won't just hobble governments when it comes to providing basic services. It'll will hurt students' chances to enter the world of higher education. Of particular worry for the Florida Association of Colleges and Universities, a non-governmental organization that represents all sectors of the state's higher education system, is whether the Florida Resident Access Grant will be cut. The grant, also known as FRAG, is about $3,000 per student. It is available for qualified undergraduates who attend the state's private, nonprofit colleges or universities.

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Florida Budget, News12 (CBS, Palm Coast)

December 18, 2008
By Claudia Shea


It's a big day in Tallahassee for Florida's budget. House committees are discussing potential budget cuts that likely will include education and health and human services. Those are the state's biggest spending areas. Lawmaker must close a $2.3 billion current-year deficit. Agencies have been asked to suggest ways to absorb a 10 percent cut.