On the backs of the old, the poor, the disabled and children, Rick Scotts budget

From TampaBay.com

by Mary Ellen Klas

Highlights of Rick Scotts budget

Education
* Cuts the education budget by $3.3 billion by slashing $703 in per pupil spending. That money would be offset the first year by $403 per student with one-time federal money; the cut is a 10 percent reduction in this year's $6,899 in per-pupil spending.
* Increases the amount spent on private school vouchers by $250 million in 2012.

State workers
* Cuts 8,600 jobs statewide, 8 percent of the workforce
* All 655,000 school district employees, state and county workers in the Florida Retirement System would be required to contribute 5 percent of their salaries to the state pension fund beginning July 1, 2011, saving $2.8 billion over two years.
* Beginning in July 2012, all state employees would receive $5,000 in health insurance regardless of family size.

Medicaid
* Proposes $3 billion in reductions over two years, including $1 billion in cuts to provider reimbursement rates. Savings are expected by receiving federal approval to transfer all 3 million Medicaid patients into a managed care program which would control costs and crack down on fraud.

Prisons
* Proposes eliminating 1,690 employees from Department of Corrections by closing two prisons.
Corrections houses more than 100,000 inmates in 146 facilities, employing 18,200 employees.

Property Taxes
* State-set school property taxes would be cut by $1 billion over two years. Scott had pledged a $1.4 billion cut in the first year, but is phasing in a lesser tax cut over two years.
* Water management districts would be asked to take a 25 percent reducting in their annual property tax levy for two years, contributing $178 million and school districts would be expected to rollback taxes $507 million in first year.

Corporate Income Tax
* Corporate income tax would drop from 5.5 percent to 3 percent in 2011-12 and be phased out by 2018.* * The first year savings would be $458 million statewide.

Fees
* Motor vehicle fees would be scaled back, saving $235 million.

Environment
* The Department of Community Affairs would be merged with the Department of Environmental Protection, eliminating 530 jobs over two years. DCA staff will decrease to 40 employees within two years; budget drops to $70 million.

Children and Disabled
* Department of Children and Families would lose 1800 staff positions and $178 million.
* Agency for Person Disabilities decreases in size by 155 positions and $173 million, a 17 percent cut.

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