Running compilation of reactions to Gov. Rick Scott’s budget here
I’ll just keep posting reactions as they flow in:
Senate President Mike Haridopolos commented on the release of Governor Rick Scott’s proposed budget:
“It’s impressive that after one month on the job Governor Scott has prepared a comprehensive budget so quickly. The Senate is dedicated to working with the Governor to provide a balanced budget with no new taxes. The best way to improve the business environment in Florida is to keep taxes low and live within our means. We will do that. 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.”
Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon released the following statement today regarding Governor Rick Scott’s budget recommendations for fiscal year 2011-2012.
“Governor Scott has proposed budget recommendations, which he believes reflect the principles he espoused on the campaign trail. Over the next few weeks, we look forward to thoroughly reviewing these recommendations.
“The first and highest priorities of the Florida House are to cut government spending and not raise taxes. I am grateful that Governor Scott shares these goals.”
Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, released the following statement regarding Governor Rick Scott’s proposed budget:
“Governor Rick Scott laid out his budget plan today to contend with our state’s $3.6 billion deficit. Our most important responsibility in the Florida Legislature is to help get our state’s economy back on track. Senate Republicans will continue to work hard on policies that cultivate an attractive business environment in which the economy and jobs for Floridians can flourish again.
“We will look for fiscally conservative solutions to balance our budget and lead us toward a prosperous economic future – that means spending less rather than raising taxes. It is important that we look to policies that encourage accountability and personal responsibility while protecting Florida’s most vulnerable citizens.
“We will take a deliberate approach and do the work necessary to ensure that our children’s future is filled with opportunities and prosperity.”
Representative Denise Grimsley (R-Sebring), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, today released the following statement regarding Governor Rick Scott’s budget proposal.
“I am encouraged to see that the Governor Scott’s budget reflects our common goal of overcoming the $4.6 billion budget shortfall without raising or imposing new taxes on Floridians.
“Moving forward, the House Appropriations Committee will closely examine the Governor’s budget as we work to address the many difficult decisions required during the Appropriations process.”
Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich (D-Weston) on Monday released the following statement on Republican Governor Rick Scott’s budget proposal:
“While the governor campaigned against career politicians and against business as usual in Tallahassee, his budget reflects the same old policies we’ve seen for the last 12 years that helped dig the hole we’re in. If government has been the problem, then the problem has been themselves.
“Twelve years of Republican control of the Legislature and Governor’s mansion have left us with one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, despite having one of the lowest tax rates for big business. It is foolish to believe that lowering corporate taxes any further – a tax first approved by the residents of this state in the interest of fairness – will now magically spur job creation.“
“The retreaded voodoo economics we heard today will not right this ship. But it will drill more holes in our already badly damaged public education. It will further eliminate the life rafts hundred of thousands of Floridians have had to turn to for basic survival because their jobs, their benefits and their homes have disappeared.
“So too the attack on tens of thousands of state employees. Hitting the average public servant making well under six figures may make for catchy campaign ads. But squeezing working class Floridians who haven’t seen a cost of living increase in five years is the real trickle down effect, affecting like falling dominoes everyone from the local grocery store owner to the McDonald’s franchise operator.
“Rather than his top down approach, the governor might be better served by starting bottom up where the real battles are fought. Working and middle class Floridians accustomed to paying their bills and maintaining their homes have been under siege just trying to hold on.
“They need leadership that values a commitment to education, especially higher education and the new careers it launches and the unemployed it retrains; a dedication to preserving essential state services and programs, along with the employees that provide them including our first responders; an investment in our state’s infrastructure that has been ignored and imperiled for far too long; and an emphasis on aiding small businesses, the real power house in any economic recovery, and the regulations and tax policies that strangle their job creating ability. All of this is what’s desperately needed and sorely missing from the words I heard today.“
Florida House Democratic Leader Ron Saunders (D-Key West) issued the following statement concerning Governor Scott’s proposed budget:
“Governor Rick Scott’s proposed state budget, if adopted by the Republican-controlled Legislature, would further stagnate Florida’s economy and threaten public safety. Cutting transportation-related jobs and reducing funding for public safety efforts is the wrong approach. The state should focus more on reducing Medicaid fraud and wasteful state spending instead of attacking the pensions of our hard-working teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public servants.
“House Democratic Caucus members are working with our Republican colleagues to produce a balanced budget for Florida that creates jobs in the private sector without destroying the retirements of middle-class Floridians.”
Statement By: Barney Bishop III, President & CEO, Associated Industries of Florida Regarding Gov. Rick Scott’s Budget Recommendations
“Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed ‘Jobs Budget’ sends a strong signal that he is serious about getting Florida’s financial house in order. Government at all levels has ballooned beyond our ability to pay for it. By cutting more $5 billion in government spending and simultaneously sending $2 billion back to taxpayers, this Governor is counting on the fact that taxpayers know how best to spend their own money – better than government bureaucrats.
Decreasing spending more than 10 percent overall, and applying available dollars to the areas with the best potential for return on investment, sets the right tone for job growth. A $600 million boost for economic development activities and a rollback in the corporate income tax will bring more jobs to Florida’s doorstep.
Cuts to education and health care will inevitably raise concerns among some, but in the midst of a recession, government must cut expenses because raising taxes is a death knell for job creation. Critics will certainly accuse the Governor of using state employee pension plans and health care to further his budget goals. But, the truth is, Florida taxpayers are the ones getting fleeced by a pension system and health care benefit program unlike any now available in the private sector.
The only way to help the more than one million Floridians who do not have a job is to foster a climate where small businesses can grow and other companies want to set up shop in the Sunshine State. This budget seeks to take a giant step toward accomplishing that goal.
Associated Industries of Florida (AIF) supported Gov. Scott because we needed radical change and this budget begins to make the sort of changes we have long needed. Prosperity and success can be achieved through a willingness to make tough decisions and by implementing the forward-thinking ideas this budget provides. AIF also applauds those in the Legislature who are working hard to make those same kinds of tough decisions in their respective chambers. We encourage the Legislature to support Gov. Scott in his quest to get Florida a budget that will fulfill each of our desires for a thriving economy in the years ahead.”
Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith released the following statement reacting to Governor Rick Scott’s budget proposal:
“Today, Governor Scott proposed his jobs-killing budget, which absolutely will increase unemployment in Florida and would continue the failed Republican policies of the past decade that have left the Sunshine State with one of the worst economies in the nation.
“In addition to killing jobs, the Governor’s budget slashes funding for Florida’s children, cuts disability programs for the most vulnerable in our society, and slashes veterans funding while at the same time more than doubling spending on his personal office.
“This budget from the Governor is a frontal assault on the quality of life of every Floridian and will not create a single job nor spur our economy forward; instead it takes us further into the economic ditch.
“It is shameful that Governor Scott is willing to put the public safety of Florida’s communities and the education of our state’s children at risk while putting more Floridians out of work.“
The Florida Chamber of Commerce today released the following statement from Mark Wilson, President and CEO of the Florida Chamber, regarding Governor Rick Scott’s proposed FY 2011-2012 budget.
“Over the next two years, Florida has a generational opportunity to completely reset our economy.
“Free enterprise has created more wealth and private sector jobs than any other economic system in history. Gov. Scott’s proposed ‘jobs budget’ is a refreshing sign that he is clearly focused on making private sector job growth Florida’s state mantra.
“While Gov. Scott’s budget proposal reduces the size of government and cuts taxes for Floridians, it places strong emphasis on alleviating the burdensome regulations the Florida Chamber has repeatedly said prevents job creation and economic growth.
“By pumping $800 million into economic development over the next two years, Gov. Scott is sending a loud and clear message that he is serious about moving Florida toward the new economy.
“Long gone are the days of governing by polls and popularity contests, and putting the tough decisions off for another year. Just like families must do when they balance their checkbooks, Gov. Scott is demonstrating true leadership by making our government live within its means.”
Statement by Marshall Criser, Chairman of the Florida TaxWatch Board of Trustees:
“Governor Rick Scott is changing how Florida does business by laying out a longer term budget plan than what Florida has seen in recent years. By being able to look ahead for the next few years, Florida families and business owners will be able to plan for the future with more predictability and certainty. The Governor’s budget protects what attracts employers to stay and expand in Florida by investing in healthy, educated and prosperous communities. The Governor’s two-year budget approach correctly identifies the state budget as a strategic tool rather than tactical device. Florida will meet the current economic challenges through this approach that balances present needs with where we need to go next. We are pleased to see the Governor’s focus on specific targets that have understandable metrics. To establish goals and progress is a common-sense, businesslike approach to demonstrate where government creates value and address where it does not.”
Statement by Dominic M. Calabro, President and CEO of Florida TaxWatch:
“Florida TaxWatch applauds the fiscal stewardship reflected in Governor Rick Scott’s proposed budget. The Governor and his team have put forth a plan to modernize state government that will be a major step forward for improving taxpayer value, if approved.
The Governor was bold and creative in producing this budget. Details will come out about how these changes will be implemented and more review is needed to fully understand these proposed reforms but we commend the Governor for the zero-based approach to budgeting and efforts to enhance accountability. We applaud the Governor and his staff at the Office of Policy and Budget for their great work. The core needs of Floridians are taken care of by this budget instead of past prioritization of the need to grow government.
The Governor’s budget appropriately focuses on jobs with a significant increase in the state’s economic development programs, which should have a great return on investment for Florida taxpayers from the fiscal and economic benefits from these programs. The Governor’s budget addresses Florida’s fiscal situation and will speed up the state’s recovery from the Great Recession.
The fiscal crisis is at its root an economic crisis. The budget shortfall reflects the same budget shortfall that Florida families and employers have seen throughout the state. This Governor’s budget respects the situation of taxpayers by making government face the same hard choices and includes tax relief to help us through tough times. People are hurting now and this budget puts money back in the hands of Florida families and small businesses to help them get by and create jobs to grow the economy. Under Governor Scott’s budget, Floridians will see $4.1 billion in tax relief, which will total more than $500 dollars per household over two years.
When national and state budgets get released, usually the talk revolves around big spending programs. Just look at Illinois, where they just passed a 66 percent income tax increase and a 46 percent business tax increase under the guise of a “fiscal emergency”. The reality is that many states like Illinois, and especially our leaders in Washington, are addicted to spending. Across the nation we have to get spending under control. We tax too much and we spend more than we tax. Governor Scott clearly wants Florida to have a budget that makes our state a beacon of fiscally conservative principles. The budget proposal released today would dramatically change how state government operates by realigning resources towards core functions.
Florida is showing a willingness to get government expenses under control, especially in the areas of pension reform, justice reform and Medicaid reform. Our state’s Governor and lawmakers realize that we cannot spend and tax our way to prosperity. State government employee benefits have steadily increased so that they are now woefully out of sync with what working families and retirees experience in the private sector. State workers’ lavish benefits have put an undue hardship not only on taxpayers but on our state’s ability to provide effective education and the highest levels of public safety.
Statement By: Dr. Ed Moore, President & CEO, Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida Regarding Governor Scott’s Budget Recommendations
“On behalf of the Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida (ICUF) and our 29 member institutions across the state, we are pleased the Governor recognized the importance of the Florida Resident Access Grant (FRAG) in creating access to higher education. He took this position in his campaign and again in the transition efforts and now it is reflected in his budget proposal. FRAG helps students obtain financial access to college, giving them true choice in meeting their higher education needs. ICUF looks forward to working with Governor Scott in preparing Florida’s future workforce and creating quality, educated graduates for the jobs for our state’s future.”
James Madison Institute president Ed McClure comments on Rick Scott’s proposed budget:
Governor Scott has proposed a bold “Jobs Budget” to get Floridians back to work. By relying on the free enterprise system while promoting personal responsibility, the Governor understands that government has nothing to give except what it first must take from someone else. He is willing to make the difficult but important choices that have been put on hold for far too long.
This budget allows American ingenuity and the free market to flourish by cutting taxes, cutting spending and reducing the regulatory burden that all Floridians feel every single day. The entrepreneurial spirit, so often seen throughout Florida’s history, will thrive again when government gets out of the way.
Audubon of Florida had this response:
Earlier today, Governor Scott released his 2011-2013 budget proposal with reductions topping $5B, despite facing only a 3.6B state shortfall. While many budget categories are aggregated, making it difficult to determine specific programs that have been reduced or eliminated, a few items are apparent:
1) Everglades Restoration garnered a coveted $17M in general revenue for each of the next two years (Scott’s proposal was a two-year, rather than one-year, budget)
2) Disappointingly, the state’s premier land-buying program, Florida Forever, was not allocated any funding.
3) The Department of Community Affairs, which oversees the state’s growth management regulation, appears to have been split, farmed out to other agencies (like DEP), and ultimately reduced to a shadow of its former self. It remains to be seen how these functions will be retained.
4) The Governor interspersed his budget’s line items with goals and benchmarks for achievement, such as increasing state land attendance by 3% in the next two years. Audubon supports this revenue-generating goal, and encourages all our supporters to enjoy natural Florida this coming weekend.
5) While State Park attendance was, appropriately, a focus in the Governor’s budget, the fate of the park closures remains to be seen. The Governor did not specifically address the closures proposal in his budget.
Why is it that there are no comments from anyone who is not a conservative out to destroy public education? Why is it that Mr. Scott did not get his information out to any news media who were not conservative? How is it that the people responding on this page can be so ignorant? Do you realize that cutting corporate taxes has NEVER led to more jobs? Do you read any information about the economy not presented by FoxNews and other slanted sources?
Hey, why not cut the corporate tax to zero? Better yet, why not hire a corporation to run Florida? Privatize everything. Yeah, that’s the ticket. And why not just eliminate public education and also let those lazy poor people take care of themselves? I mean, that’s why they’re poor, right? Fools.
I agree with Mark Duran. “Let the poor people take car of themselves. I mean, that’s why they’re poor.
Susidizing laziness, failure and poverty will only get you more of it.
Rick Scott knows what has to be done and it won’t be pretty. On the other had if we keep going the way the Liberals want to go, it will be down right UGLY!]]
Saul Relative.
Florida now has a governor to whom any kind of restraint on the profit making abilities of corporate interests is anathema. And that will be what we will be talking about- huge corporate profits and minimum wage jobs.
And I’m sick and tired of the simpletons who think they can avoid any really intelligent debate as to what should be done by branding anyone who disagrees them with what has become the pejorative: ‘liberals’.
I was at one time a state employee and know first hadn that at the worker level the state employees rank last in earning of any state in the union. Asking them to take what amounts to a pay cut to fund a 401K type program does not put the employees in line with other states at all. It just lowers their salery. If Gov Scott were to bring their salery into alignment with other states, and then ask they fund their 401k, then it would be fair. The current proposal is simply not at all fair to the workers. I do very much support any proposal to reduce the salery of the executive level state employees. It is simply wrong to pay an agency head a six figure salary and pay the worker level staff 1/5 what the boss earns.
Gov Scott is almost totally on the right track. Almost.
I agree with one poster who said he needs to take a long hard long at the insane difference between executive level pay scales and staff levels. This is most ture in agencies that years ago were “privatized.”
Many of these agencies pay their private management excessively high saleries, and the staff excessively low saleries. There are over 20 small companies in the state now running local WorkForce agencies, combining these into one single company would be more more effective and less costly. The state could then pay one executive a six figure salery rather than paying 20 such money.
I very much agree with the Governor on most of his plan. I know the details need to be worked out but the main thrust is spot on. I admit to being concerned that we may lose many of our best state employees when some changes hit, and I feel the cost of state goverment in Florida is not due to its size but rather its waste, fraud, and poor management.
Check with the private schools in your area and see what it cost to send a child there for a year. Then ask yourself why the state pays $7000 which is alot higher then the private schools in my area, and doesn’t do as good of a job.
THANK YOU Governor Scott for stopping the High Speed rail boondoggle. The High Speed we need is in BUDGET CUTS! High Speed that One!
Rick Scott is one toupee and a small black mustache from actually showing his real face!!
There is no place in Govt. for buisness as there is no place in buisness for Govt.
Buisness is for a profit at what ever the cost.
Rick Scott is the perfect example of that and he just keeps feeding you cake and you continue to eat.
Pretty soon you will get full or your teeth will fall out.
RV. That is an inappropriate reference, and we all know you intended to compare our elected governor to Hitler. Free speech is a dangerous thing, and only because people tend to forget that the equal rights principle applies to it as well. I have to say that I vacillate between Locke and Hobbes on the speech issue sometimes, but your answers make me tend towards Hobbes.
I happened to read the article titled “Scott’s budget on the right track” published on your newspaper. I think I need to speak up for ourselves.
We all know the problems that have driven the State’s budget as well as the Federal government’s budget down to the below bottom: the economic crisis, the unbalanced revenues-expenses, the overloaded welfare system, tax evasion by under-table workers…among others.
Unlike Federal employees, most State employees’ salaries/wages are under national average. They have not got pay-increase for years in addition to the cut of staffing. One employee now has to get the workload of 2-3 employees. Why did not the hard-working people go to private sector where profits drive operating activities? Because they are proud of serving the State, serving Floridians, serving the people like a Mr. Jorge Aguiar of Doral. Because they work hard and get low pay, because they do not get pay-increase for years, because they pay their responsible taxes, because they do the jobs of 2-3 workers, because they do not get bonus or any cash incentives every year, because they work hard to serve you and protect your rights and benefits… I believe that we deserve our current minimum benefits such as pension, health insurance…Compared with private-sector workers who get pay much higher and receive more incentives and not like the article stated, most State employees do not have automatic cost-of-living increases or automatic pay increases; our sick leave and holidays are comparable to the workers in private sector; yes, we do not contribute to pension fund because if we had to, we could not afford it due to our too-low pay. If we were paid as high as workers in private sector, we could contribute to our pension fund more than the State’s current contribution rate and the same as private-sector workers’ 401K contribution and their employers’ match.
The main discussion is that we, State employees, do not get pay as high as you think, we do not have excessive incentives like you think. If we had, most people in private sector do not shake their heads when they are asked to work for the State. Moreover, the State is not the only entity who incurs high labour cost, private-sector companies do too. Unless you hire robots to work for the you, you must incur labor cost. Also, please remember, robots cannot do all the work for you but humans do because humans create the robots. If you average State’s workers wages and compare it with the one for private sector workers of the same profession, you will see the result of low wages and incentives the State workers currently have had. You do not believe? please leave your high-paying job and come to work for the State!
We survive because we know our duties are to serve the People of Florida and to make their life better and safer. Just like a soldier who is fighting for your safety and liberty, have you ever wondered why the soldier does not work to make money here in the peaceful place but bravely stays in the battlefields?
Do not you think our country’s welfare system and tax evasion contribute mainly to the State and the country’s unbalance budgets? Make yourself get up and go to work, not robbing the taxpayers’ dollars.
A State employee.
Mr Phillips maybe you do not agree with my comments but yes we live in a country where free speech is allowed.
Yes Gov Scott was elected but by NO LAND SLIDE remember it was almost a dead 50-50 race that being said 50% of the people in florida that voted did not vote for Mr Scott!!
As a long time Floridian since 1973 I am very proud of MY STATE and it angers me to see a crooked buisness man try and ruin this great state.
People forget that he has a vendetta (an often prolonged series of retaliatory, vengeful, or hostile acts or exchange of such acts <waged a personal vendetta against those who fined him billions of dollars) against the state of Florida to settle and as long as we stand by and do nothing he will acheive his goal.
I have nothing against comparing Republicans to Nazis, but stay away from mustache references. Groucho Marx, Jacques Clouseau, and other funny characters had them too. Hitler fashionably tried to ruin the mustache. A lot of people have mustaches. Hitler also had ears and legs and do we go around saying “hey, you have ears and legs, are you going to invade Poland?” **** no we don’t! Stick to political policy with the Hitler/Nazi comparisons. End rant.
Are you sick of highly paid teachers?
Teachers’ hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or10 months a year! It’s time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do – baby-sit!
We can get that for less than minimum wage.
That’s right. Let’s give them $3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That would be $19.50 a day (7:45 to 3:00 PM with 45 min. off for lunch and plan– that equals 6 1/2 hours).
Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children. Now how many students do they teach in a day…maybe 30? So that’s $19.50 x 30 = $585.00 a day.
However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any vacations.
LET’S SEE….
That’s $585 X 180= $105,300
per year. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries).
What about those special
education teachers and the ones with Master’s degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage ($7.75), and just to be fair, round it off to $8.00 an
hour. That would be $8 X 6 1/2 hours X 30 children X 180 days = $280,800 per year.
Wait a minute — there’s
something wrong here! There sure is!
The average teacher’s salary
(nation wide) is $50,000. $50,000/180 days
= $277.77/per day/30
students=$9.25/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student–a very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even EDUCATE your kids!) WHAT A DEAL!!!!
“Are you sick of highly paid teachers?”
Uh, no.
“Are you sick of highly paid teachers? Albert, you just don’t get it!!!
No I am sick of Kids who cannot do basic math and cannot read beyond 3rd grade level after 12 years of education in either Private of Public Schools but can manage to make one of the college Football teams .
But IF the future you envision for your child in Florida is low wage service end jobs and maybe a year in a private community college then go for it;.
Rick Scott’s next target will be our community college system.