Florida’s future and lives on the line

OUR OPINION: LEADERSHIP LACKING IN TOUGH FISCAL TIMES

Miami Herald Editorial

Wed, Apr. 16, 2008

Fewer state prosecutors, no hospice services for the poor, less protection for children at risk of abuse -- this is what Florida faces with the budget proposals approved by state legislators last week. While the House and Senate must still reconcile next year's plan, the overall impact is clear: Dramatic spending cuts disproportionately will hurt the state's most vulnerable people and intensify the pain of the current economic downturn.

The Legislature's leaders -- namely House Speaker Marco Rubio and Senate President Ken Pruitt -- are shortchanging Florida's people and future. They may argue that shrinking government is fiscally prudent. But local communities will bear steep costs when jails, schools and public hospitals are strained to the limit. The consequences could be brutal in South Florida. Miami-Dade and Broward counties stand to get $2.4 billion and $1.8 billion less state funding than last year.

Fewer court employees

Overall, the Legislature proposes to shave at least $5 billion from this year's $70 billion spending level -- at a time when the economy needs stimulating the most. The state will lose more than 4,000 employees, many of them from the courts. So as crime increases along with economic hardship, judges will be less able to carry the workload.

Many spending cuts will end up costing us more. The Legislature will invest less in education, thus threatening the quality of Florida's workforce for years to come. Eliminating a Medicaid program that serves poor seniors at home will force many into more costly nursing homes. Slashing funds that help foster children support themselves as adults will waste the youths' potential and increase future welfare costs. Cuts to nursing homes and child protective staff will literally put lives at risk.

At least both chambers approved cuts to legislators' salaries, a symbolic nod to the hard times.

Rein in pension plan

The Legislature would have done better to broaden state revenues. Florida is so dependent on sales taxes that an economic downturn turns into a fiscal crisis. Yet the Republican majority refused to consider eliminating outdated sales-tax exemptions, collecting taxes on Internet sales or other ideas labeled as ''tax increases.'' Another nonstarter: using budget-stabilization funds to stimulate the economy. Legislative leaders might have reined in the state's rich pension plan or the patronage that leads to wasteful government contracts.

Tough times demand leadership that prioritizes what is most important. Targeting the most vulnerable people is not the solution. Florida's government needs a more stable revenue base and diversified economy so it can invest in its people and future. As Domenic Calabro of TaxWatch says, ``You can never tax yourself out of fiscal crisis or cut your way into prosperity.''