Has the hornets nest been kicked?

From the Palm Beach Post

by John Kennedy

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature's ruling Republicans have kicked over a political hornet's nest by promoting budget cuts, pension overhauls and civil justice changes, which are now emerging as targets for statewide rallies by Democratic-allied organizations.

The GOP's tough medicine for a state pocked by foreclosures and almost 12 percent unemployment may be breathing life into a Florida Democratic Party, virtually left for dead after wholesale election defeats last fall. It also may effectively prove the opening round of the 2012 presidential contest in the nation's biggest battleground state.

"Democrats last fall were down and outspent," said Susannah Randolph, campaign manager for defeated Orlando Democratic U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson and now an organizer of the March 8 rallies.

"Now we're seeing that we have to respond to a threat level like DEFCON 1," said Randolph, who also is a leader of Florida Watch Action. "And sure, we want to keep this energy going."

Using a Facebook page, "Awake The State," organizers are planning events in most major Florida cities on the legislature's opening day. Although locations are still being determined, teachers and public employees' unions, including police and firefighters, are forming the core of those protesting expected cuts in education, pensions and government workforces.

Counter-punching, tea party supporters are rallying behind Scott, and looking to converge on the state Capitol for the session's launch, which coincides with the new governor's first State of the State address.

Political spring training

Florida hasn't been rocked yet by the kind of political convulsions coursing through Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio, where unions and Republican governors have squared-off in angry protests and even walkouts by Democratic lawmakers.

President Obama carried each of these states in the 2008 presidential contest and next year, combined, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Florida contain one-quarter of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.

Florida is the largest of these toss-up states. And the Tallahassee power struggle, while growing more fierce, is clearly looking like a proxy fight or - this being Florida - spring training, for the 2012 campaigns.

"Gov. Scott campaigned on exactly what he's doing now, and, unlike a lot of politicians, he's keeping his promises," said Robin Stublin, with Florida Alliance, a coalition of 130 tea party groups planning to rally on the steps of the state's Old Capitol within hours of the session's opening.

"But I guess to some extent, he's also woken up the Democrats' base," Stublin conceded. "You know, they woke up three years ago, too, and we're in a worse mess than ever."

Some tea party organizers said they expect several thousand Scott supporters to travel to Tallahassee for the legislature's opening day. Others plan to go to the Capitol two days later for a round of meetings with lawmakers, including Rep. Mike Weinstein, R-Orange Park, who has formed a tea party caucus among Republican lawmakers.

"Any time the status quo is threatened with billions of dollars in cuts, there's a lot of special interest groups that are feeling put upon," said Henry Kelley of the Fort Walton Beach Tea Party.

"We always say elections have consequences. And we did our best to elect people and now we're going to do our best to hold them accountable," Kelley said.

Republican legislative leaders look ready to play to their crowd.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, has already raised $1 million for his bid to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson next year. Haridopolos last week said the Senate was looking to make a political splash during the session's opening hours.

The Senate chief said he wants the first legislation his chamber passes to be a proposed ballot measure designed to cut Florida out of the federal health care overhaul.

Another proposal set for an early vote in the Senate would ask voters in 2012 to impose a strict new spending limit on state government.

Budget shortfall focus

Other bills poised for swift action would eliminate teacher tenure, create a new employee evaluation system, and introduce performance pay, an approach generally opposed by the state's largest teachers' union, a big Democratic voting base.

Other legislation taking shape is aimed at reducing product liability lawsuits, a measure opposed by Florida trial lawyers, who typically pour millions into state Democratic campaigns.

But the dominant focus for Scott and lawmakers is closing a state budget shortfall that has cratered to at least $3.6 billion.

Scott has proposed making the 655,000 government workers enrolled in the Florida Retirement System - the biggest share being school board employees - contribute 5 percent of their paychecks to the plan.

That would pull an additional $1.3 billion into the state's cash-strapped budget.

Scott's $65.9 billion budget recommendation would cut $4.6 billion in state spending, trim 8,681 jobs across state agencies, and set the state on course for even more reductions next year.

The state's Education Department draws the largest single reduction in Scott's plan - losing $3.3 billion. While education also is the largest item of state spending overall, the Florida Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union, campaigned heavily last fall for Scott's Democratic opponent, Alex Sink.

Meanwhile, Scott's blueprint also leaves room for $2 billion in tax cuts - for property owners, corporations and businesses.

At a Jacksonville rally last week opposing budget cuts, Duval County School Board Chairman W.C. Gentry, a trial lawyer who has contributed heavily to Democratic candidates, may have sounded a theme that will echo into the 2012 campaigns.

"Can you explain to me how it is that we should give tax cuts to the most profitable corporations in this state on the backs of our school children?" Gentry said, to applause from a crowd of 300 parents, educators and students.

Darryl Paulson, a University of South Florida political scientist, said such "us against them" shadings are certain to color the ideological clash burgeoning in Florida.

"You're seeing a precise political strategy on the part of both parties to mobilize their bases as another election year looms," Paulson said. "Whichever party gets the upper hand in Tallahassee this spring is going to be in good shape for next year."

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/gops-reform-push-stirs-rivals-1284229.html?page=2

Education Rally, Monday at Met Park

From the Times Union

Save Duval Schools and the Duval County Council of PTAs are teaming together to coordinate a rally to oppose education cuts proposed by Gov. Rick Scott.

The rally is scheduled for Monday at Metro Park, with gates opening at 4 p.m. and the events starting at 5 p.m.

"We don't believe that cuts to publics schools are what this community wants for its children," said Colleen Wood, executive director of Save Duval Schools.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-02-16/story/save-duval-schools-hold-education-rally-0

Woody's Bar-B-Q will help supply food for the rally with the first 500 people getting chicken dinners.

The event will feature a letter-writing station for people to contact their elected officials. The district's five finalists for teacher of the year will also be honored.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-02-16/story/save-duval-schools-hold-education-rally-0#ixzz1EDnCKwpG

Republicans jumping off Rick Scott's ship?

From the St. Petersburg Times, the Buzz

by Michael Bender

For a Republican-controlled Legislature that voted to increase taxes and fees by $2 billion two years ago, the bipartisan boos over Gov. Rick Scott's proposed spending cuts might not be too surprising.

But the teeth-gnashing and hand-wringing continued this morning as a panel of Senate K-12 budget writers took their turn picking apart Scott's proposal to spend 10 percent less on public school students this year.

Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, cast doubt on Scott's suggestion to plug some of the hole with stimulus money districts were given to spend for the current school year. "I just don't think that's as straight an arrow as I would expect," said Lynn, chairwoman of the Republican Senate Conference. "I look at it as a little smoke and mirrors."

"Regifting," Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, interrupted.

"It seems a little bit improper," Lynn said.

Chairman David Simmons, R-Maitland, said some districts, including Broward - the state's second largest district, had already spent the money. Simmons said he's awaiting a report on all the districts.

"We'll have a better idea about whether this is real or not," Simmons said.

The reality no one is arguing with so far is that, with or without Scott's recommendation, lawmakers will have to plug a tax shortfall of at least $3.6 billion in the upcoming budget. Simmons has indicated that a cut to school spending is possible, if not likely.

Simmons closed the meeting by asking his committee members to individually speak with him in private about their ideas on how to address the budget problems.

"I look forward to hearing from you about what you think we should be doing," Simmons said to the committee. "That's going to be a tough call for each of you, each of us."

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/gov-rick-scotts-k-12-budget-called-smoke-and-mirrors

Scott breaks promise, cuts education spending

From Politifact.com

Gov. Rick Scott unveiled his highly anticipated state budget on Feb. 7, 2011, which, as promised, calls for major reductions to government spending along with tax cuts for property owners and businesses.

Scott's two-year spending plan would shrink the overall state budget from $70.3 billion to $65.9 billion in 2011-2012 and to $63.3 billion in 2012-2013. Cuts were expected almost everywhere -- except in the area of education, where Scott has said that funding would remain the same.

At least, that's what people thought.

Scott's proposed budget for next year includes billions of dollars in education cuts. (The actual cut depends on what education budget figure you consult, but the cut would be between $3.3 billion and $4.8 billion, with per-student funding to decrease by 10 percent.) Some of that loss is offset by having teachers contribute 5 percent to their retirement and by the inclusion of temporary federal education dollars. Still, per-student funding would shrink if Scott's budget is ultimately approved.

"I've heard nothing but that education funding wasn't going to be touched," said Florida Education Association spokesman Mark Pudlow. "We all were wondering what kind of alchemy we were going to see. Of course, what we saw was tons of cuts to education."

When Scott met with reporters after announcing his budget, he was asked if he had flipped on his campaign rhetoric.

"No, it's not going back on anything I promised," Scott said. "What I said throughout the campaign and what I'm saying today -- any money that came out of state general revenue, we're not cutting that. Any money that they relied on federal bailouts, that is different."

But that's not what Scott said just four days prior in Tampa.

During an announcement where Scott said he would cut local school property taxes, called the required local effort, he was asked specifically about the effect on education funding. Here's the question and answer from Feb. 3, which we just happened to record:

Question: You referred to cuts in the RLE (required local effort) property tax. Do you have a plan to make up that revenue or will the schools take that as a loss?

Scott: "No, my commitment is to make sure the money that they've received they'll get again. Where I'm getting the savings is, I'm reducing the state government. What I'm trying to do is keep the school budgets the same."

School budgets are funded through multiple sources. Local districts contribute property taxes through the required local effort, which is set by the state, and additional optional property taxes, which are set by county school boards. The state contributes general fund revenues through the state sales tax, as well as money from education trust funds. And the federal government contributes as well. The combination produces total school funding.

If one part of the funding -- required local effort -- is reduced while the other parts simply stay the same, the result is less school money overall.

Speaking in Tampa, Scott made no effort to distinguish or differentiate the funding formula -- all he said is he would keep school budgets the same.

We also found references during the campaign when Scott was on the record saying education funding would not be cut as part of his budget.

During the primary, Scott said he could offset a reduction in the school property tax through a combination of a larger share of sales taxes and other general revenue, according to the Palm Beach Post. When Scott's primary opponent, Attorney General Bill McCollum, called that plan "unrealistic," Scott said the money for schools could be found by cuts in non-education spending, the Post reported.

And then during the general election, Scott again was asked to respond to questions over his education spending plan. According to the Associated Press, a spokeswoman for Alex Sink, Scott's Democratic opponent, called the Scott plan a rip-off of education. Here's how Scott responded in a Sept. 28 story: "We're not slashing the budget, our focus is to spend the dollars well," he said. "We're gonna drive down property tax rates, but we're gonna do that as we figure out how to save money. We're gonna make sure the money is there for education."

Again, Scott offered no suggestion he was talking only about general revenue funding.

One more thing: In comments after releasing his budget, Scott said he only promised no cuts to general revenue -- but he's actually making a slight cut there as well. Scott's budget includes about a $155 million cut in general revenue funding in 2011-2012. Yes, it's a small cut from a proposed budget of $12.3 billion, but it's a cut nevertheless.

At the very least, Scott deliberately and purposely suggested that education funding would be held harmless in his first state budget. He made comments to that effect just days before his budget was released. Yet, when he announced his budget, cuts were included. We rate Scott's claim False.

http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2011/feb/08/rick-scott/education-cuts-show-rick-scotts-budget/

Rick Scott: Billions with a B, in cuts to education

From the Miami herald

By Mack Caputo

EUSTIS – At a highly partisan tea-party event, Gov. Rick Scott unveiled his first budget proposal that makes good on his promises to slash the size and spending of government.

Scott proposed spending almost $66 billion -- $4.6 billion less next budget year compared to this year. Scott also wants to eliminate nearly 8,700 state positions, many of them filled by current state workers.

Though cutting those state jobs would add to the state’s unemployment rate, Scott indicated that the best way to grow the state’s economy was through his “jobs budget” that shrinks state government and cutting nearly $1.4 billion in property and corporate-income taxes.

“As long as 1.1 million Floridians are out of work, we can't afford a government that runs wild with taxes, regulations and excessive spending,” Scott told the enthusiastic crowd of a thousand conservative activists.

“Reviewing a governmental budget is much like going through the attic in an old home. You come across some priceless things you need to protect,” Scott said. “But there are a lot of odd things someone once thought we needed. Much of it we’ve outgrown. And it just doesn’t fit anymore. Over the last month, I’ve spent a lot of time in that attic. And I’m cleaning it out.”

But critics say he’s burning down the house.

State Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, noted the big cuts to education: $3.3 to $4.8 billion, depending on which section of the budget is included. She said that would hurt the state’s kids and the state’s business climate.

“The number one question business ask when they come here is how is the education system,” Sobel said. “If you’re cutting money at that level, you’re not going to attract the kind of businesses that we want to have.”

Scott is reducing per-pupil spending by $703 – a 10 percent reduction. But school boards say the governor’s office has informed them that, since he’s proposing to reduce taxpayer-backed pension costs, school boards can use the savings to boost spending.

Overall, Scott is proposing a modest increase in healthcare spending -- $690 million – but it’s unclear if that would represent a reduction in the Medicaid program, which is growing faster than state tax collections.

Scott isn’t shrinking all government services, though. He’s increasing the small size of the staff of the Executive Office of the Governor, for instance.

The budget roll-out, which previous governors have done in the state Capitol, had the look and feel of a highly partisan, heavily scripted campaign event. The venue underscored Scott's eagerness to make what is normally a staid, policy-laden event into one that turned the budget into a political declaration.

Inside the cavernous First Baptist Church of Eustis, Scott stood in front of a made-for-TV backdrop that said "Reducing Spending & Holding Government Accountable."

The church, which seats 800, was filled to overflowing, and people waved miniature American flags and sang God Bless the USA and God Bless America.

Warmup speakers criticized President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, and praised Roger Vinson, the federal judge in Pensacola who last week struck down the Obama health plan as unconstitutional.

Before the public event, Scott hosted a private lunch for Tea Party activists at a nearby civic center.

Within an hour of posting the budget online at the governor's LetsGetToWork.net site, the site crashed. The governor's office reported that the system couldn't handle the more than 50,000 simultaneous users.


Corrections loses most staff under Scott's budget, with 1690 jobs eliminated. But rather than reduce the prision program by $1 billion, as Scott suggested on the campaign trail, the budget measure just a $82 million reduction in spending over the goveronr's first year.

Scott noted that many state workers will complain about the reductions but, he told supporters, "What we have to remember is we're doing this for the sake of our children and grandchildren."

Senate President Mike Haridopolos complimented Scott on his budget but refrained from expressing whether he thought Scott's budget was realistic.

“It’s impressive that after one month on the job Governor Scott has prepared a comprehensive budget so quickly,'' Haridopolos said in a statement. "... I also thank Governor Scott for unveiling his proposed budget directly to the people so that he can get feedback from the citizens of Florida.”

Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2011/02/a-first-take-of-rick-scotts-budget.html#ixzz1DK7xuIi0