The Fine Print

Could any of these bills get vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott?

Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday will sign several bills that consist of the "jobs agenda" that he outlined last fall.

And that's when it will start to get interesting.

There have been few surprises so far since the 2012 session ended. Scott signed the "inspirational messages" bill and this latest batch of legislation includes an overhaul of the unemployment compensation system and tax breaks, including another small cut of the state's corporate income tax.

But in the next few weeks Scott will sort out the remaining bills from this year and figure out whether or not he plans to go along with many of the ideas that his GOP colleagues in the Legislature acted on.

Not counting his budget vetoes, Scott last year vetoed 10 bills sent to him by state lawmakers, which is actually on par, or even a little bit below other governors in recent years.

Gov. Charlie Crist - who was at war with lawmakers during his independent bid for U.S. Senate in 2010 - vetoed 17 bills his final year in office (several of which were later overridden) and 18 bills in 2007. Back in 2005 then Gov. Jeb Bush a.k.a. "Veto Corleone" nixed some 36 bills sent to him by the Legislature.

It was Bush who told Scott in an email before he became governor that it was okay to veto "stupid bills."

Here then are some bills to watch Scott on in the next few days and weeks:

HB 5301: Back when Scott was campaigning against Bill McCollum in the GOP primary in 2010 he actually came out against what he called mandates being imposed on local governments. Scott told a group of business leaders in Panama City that he did not support strict limits on spending and taxes for local governments, saying at the time "I believe that what Tallahassee should be doing is dealing with Tallahassee issues." 

But sitting on his desk is a budget conforming bill that contains a contentious provision that withholds money from counties in an effort to collect $325 million in contested past-due Medicaid billings. County governments have argued this is yet another mandate, an argument that should have some resonance with Scott.

This legislation, however, includes several other changes, including a limit on how many times Medicaid will pay for hospital emergency room visits for non-pregnant adults and a provision that would allow the children of state employees to be enrolled in the state's subsidized KidCare program. Scott must act on this bill this week but there are signs that he will let it become law because it is tied to the state budget. (UPDATE: Scott signed the bill, although in a letter the governor tried to assuage counties that the state would "work diligently" to make sure that all the billings are valid and accurate. Counties, meanwhile, sharply criticized the decision as a "body blow" to taxpayers.)

HB 7129: This is the tuition bill for the University of Florida and Florida State University. If it becomes law the legislation would allow these two research universities to raise tuition annually above the existing 15 percent cap that now exists in state law. The logic behind the bill - which was a top priority for House Speaker Dean Cannon - is to give UF and FSU the financial resources to make themselves more nationally competitive. But the bill also clashes with Scott's oft-repeated line that tuition should not go up this year and that universities ought to give him more examples of spending existing money wisely before hiking tuition. (UPDATE: Scott vetoed this legislation saying it would increase the debt burden of students.

SB 1994: The Florida Polytechnic University bill. This is the legislation pushed by Sen. J.D. Alexander that would officially divorce the Lakeland branch campus of the University of South Florida and turn into the state's 12th public university. Scott so far has refused to take a stance on the creation of a new school, but has expressed skepticism about it. The problem for Scott, however, is if vetoes the bill then he wipes out $16 million in funding, including $6 million for the USF College of Pharmacy and $10 million to allow current USF Polytechnic students to complete their degrees at USF. (UPDATE: In a bit of surprise, Scott signed this legislation into law.)

HB 7117: This is an energy bill that was championed by Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. But the legislation - which includes $16 million in renewable energy tax credits - has come under fire by several different groups, including conservative organizations as well as the Florida Renewable Energy Producers Association. Scott during his first two years in office has continued to be skeptical about energy issues, although his main objection has centered around proposals that would raise utility bills in order to pay for renewable energy. (UPDATE: Scott signed this law although he expressed concerned about some of the provisions.)

HB 5011: State Information Technology. For most people outside of Tallahassee, this bill means little. But it's a big deal for the lobbyists and others who make a living off the millions spent by the state on technology. This bill blows up an existing state agency - the Agency for Enterprise Information Technology - and creates a new agency called the Agency for State Technology which reports to the governor and Cabinet. For those who aren't keeping count this would be the third reconfiguration of how the state handles technology issues in the last decade. The legislation also halts and repeals an already begun process to consolidate the state's email service. Rep. Denise Grimsley, the House budget chief, defended the move to get rid of the email consolidation, contending it would wind up costing the state more than anticipated. But it's worth pointing out that Scott himself early on wondered aloud why state government had multiple email accounts as opposed to the way that most businesses handle it. (UPDATE: Scott vetoed the bill.)

HB 945: Broadband Internet Service. This is another bill that not a lot of people kept an eye on. It transfers a federal stimulus-backed program from one state agency to another. But the legislation was pushed into law at the urging of lobbyists who work for a vendor that held a state contract that was not renewed. The Associated Press already reported that the legislative proposal was so closely aligned with the lobbying firm of former Republican Party of Florida chairman Al Cardenas that the Senate bill sponsor referred questions about the bill to a lobbyist working for Cardenas. That same AP story pointed out that the state agency now in control of the program has warned internally that the transfer will require federal approval and could put millions in federal grants in jeopardy. (UPDATE: This bill was signed by the governor.)

HB 937: Legal notices. Just consider this one a bit of a hunch. Scott of course famously shunned newspaper editorial boards during his 2010 campaign for governor. But since that time he has actually taken a keen interest in the news industry, including recent business moves in Florida such as the decision by Halifax Media to acquire papers owned by the New York Times Company. This legislation is aimed at ending a few years of battle over the future of legal notices. The bill requires the online listing of legal notices for no extra charge, but also keeps them in printed newspapers. In previous years legislators had tried to end the use of printed legal notices completely. The final product is supported by the Florida Press Association so it will be interesting to see how the governor responds.

Big tax hike could hamper Gov. Rick Scott's push for jobs

In a series of recent stump speeches, Gov. Rick Scott has emphasized that his goals remain simple: Keep down the cost of living, create jobs and improve education.

Scott's agenda for 2012 includes a smattering of additional tax cuts and a continued drive to eliminate regulations that could be holding back growth in a state that is dealing with 10.6 percent unemployment.

But now there's a big tax hike on the horizon that could hamper his plans.

For two years, state lawmakers have pushed back significant hikes in the state's unemployment compensation taxes.These are the taxes that are used to help pay benefits to the nearly 1 million people out of work.

But preliminary figures released Thursday show the minimum tax rate for employers is expected to jump from $72.10 per employee to more than $170 per employee. The maximum rate is also expected to rise from $378 to $459 per employee.

"This is a big deal," said David Hart, executive vice president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce. "The last thing we ought to be doing is putting additional burdens on employers."

Here's the full story about the tax hike.

So far neither Scott nor the Republican-controlled Legislature has talked much about this. Even the Chamber itself gave the issue only a brief mention in its 2012 list of priorities.

But Hart himself says discussions are already underway to try to convince state lawmakers that something needs to be done to "soften the burden."

It's not as if this is surprising since lawmakers nearly two years ago delayed another big tax hike. But back then the hope was that the economy would have turned around enough by 2012 so that employers could afford the higher costs.

One of the ways the state could ease the burden on employers is by rolling back some of the planned tax increases, but the downside is that it extends the amount of time it will take the state to pay back the federal government.

Right now the state owes $1.7 billion in loans that were used to keep the unemployment compensation trust fund solvent since 2009.

This year business owners paid a special assessment to cover interest that is now owed on the outstanding balance. But there's an additional penalty if the state does not promptly repay the federal government: The loss of federal tax credits. (Right now employers get a tax credit for their state unemployment taxes that is deducted from federal taxes they owe.)

Scott, who rolls out his 2012 budget proposal in early December, could offer to have the state to pay the interest charges in the coming year if the big tax hikes are delayed yet again.

But the problem for the governor is he is dealing with a projected budget shortfall that ranges - depending on who you ask - from $1.2 billion to $2 billion.

The question for the governor and the GOP-controlled Florida Legislature is whether or not the unemployment compensation tax hike rises to the level that it trumps other budget and tax considerations.

Would Scott, for example, go along with helping stall the unemployment tax hike which will affect nearly 460,000 businesses across the state in exchange for backing off his push for another small cut in the corporate income tax that he has vowed to eliminate in seven years?

Or does Scott come up with enough cuts to accommodate the shortfall, the tax cuts he has already proposed, as well as take care of unemployment tax hike?

Mark your calendars: On Dec. 8 we should know the answer.

Budget speak for dummies

The House and Senate have passed rival versions of the state budget and the negotiations between Republican leaders have already begun, although out of sight and quietly right now.

When you are talking about spending close to $70 billion there is a lot of moving parts. And with talk of deficits, shortfalls, budget cuts, trust funds, allocations it can be a bit overwhelming.

Consider this a quick and easy guide to the main concepts in play with the promise that more may come later:

IT'S A BUDGET SHORTFALL, NOT A DEFICIT: Sometimes there is a temptation to use the terms shortfall and deficit interchangeably. But it's not accurate. Florida has a projected $3.75 budget shortfall not a deficit. In other words, it's not that revenue is dropping. It's that the revenue is not rising fast enough to meet all the projected budgetary needs.

Part of those budgetary needs have been caused by the loss of federal stimulus dollars at the end of June. Lawmakers used the stimulus to cushion the state budget when state tax collections were in fact dropping due to the recession and implosion of the state's real estate market. But the stimulus money is going away - and the places where that has a big impact is in the Medicaid program and in public school funding. The biggest reason for Gov. Rick Scott's 10 percent proposed cut in school funding was that Scott said he had no intention of replacing federal stimulus dollars with state dollars.

Legislative leaders have made it clear that they do not intend to raise revenue (with a few caveats) to deal with this shortfall. So they are looking at cutting the budget and forcing state workers to pay part of their pension costs to make up the difference.

IT'S ALL ABOUT ALLOCATIONS, ALLOCATIONS, ALLOCATIONS...While many lawmakers have a say in many of the line-items included in the budget, the starting point is really concentrated in the hands of a few people. Both Senate President Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon must agree on how money to "allocate" to each of the separate areas of the budget. There's only so much money that can go around. And if you give more money from one area, you have to take it from someplace else.

And part of the allocation process is not just deciding how much money goes to schools or health care. It's how much money that can be used to offset tax cuts. Gov. Rick Scott asked for nearly $2 billion worth tax cuts and he said he's "comfortable" that lawmakers will give it to him, especially his corporate income tax proposal. The bottom line, however, is that state lawmakers can't come up with a final budget until the two legislative leaders sign off on the allocations. And that means it's largely up to the legislative leaders to decide whether they want to give Scott what he wants.

WHO IS THIS GENERAL REVENUE?...The money that is part of the important allocation process is known as "general revenue." This is Capitol shorthand for the state's main checking account. This is the money that comes primarily from the state's 6 percent sales tax, but a handful of other taxes as well such as the corporate income tax, the insurance premium tax and documentary stamp taxes on real estate transactions.

When the amount of general revenue goes down - or doesn't go up as fast as expected - it causes a big problem for state lawmakers since it's their main source of income. But it's important to point out that general revenue is expected to generate $23.8 billion in the coming year. So no, the final amount of spending and the budget is not completely dependent on just general revenue. The final budget amount is also dependent on federal aid and how much money the state takes in what are known as "trust funds."

WHO DOES MONEY FROM A TRUST FUND BELONG TO?...Copious amounts of debate has already been held this session about "trust funds." So what are they? Trust funds are accounts that are set up in state law with a dedicated source of revenue and a dedicated place where the money is spent. And therein lies the big argument. Many groups that pay fees or taxes that wind up in these trust funds view these accounts as special. And they get upset when state lawmakers tinker with them.

Supporters of trust funds argue that a promise was made and that the money should continue to be spent on that program regardless of the ongoing financial realities of the state. There is a fear that a fund dedicated say to affordable housing will vanish and never come back if it is mixed in with money that also goes to schools, health care and prisons. But the counter argument is this: Is it really fair to cut funding to schools and health care while another state program remains intact? Yet groups - whether they are gun owners who pay a concealed weapons fee or those who pay a tax on real-estate transactions - argue that it is a defacto tax increase if money isn't spent the way they want.

HOW MUCH IS THE STATE REALLY SPENDING?...Most people are aware of the ongoing Washington D.C. debate about budgets and what's covered and what's not. Well there is the same kind of debate going on this year in Tallahassee. How big is the state budget really? That's not an easy question to answer. One of the biggest differences right now between the House and Senate budgets is that the Senate budget is much larger because it includes items in the budget that the House doesn't include.

Is this a big deal? Yes and no. If an item is in the budget that means that state lawmakers ultimately control the overall amount spent. That's the logic behind including the budgets from water management districts in the Senate version. But there's also a political dynamic at work here. The more stuff you put in the budget the larger it gets. And at the end of the day, how you explain to voters that the budget you approved was actually larger on paper than the one approved a year ago?

But in reality lawmakers have routinely put stuff in and then yanked stuff out of the budget. It can make it hard to get a read on the complete level of state spending because sometimes they appropriate money in other bills unrelated directly to the budget. Plus, there are lot of other things controlled by state government that aren't annually budgeted such as money shared with city and county governments.

RECURRING OR NON-RECURRING?..You could say money is money. But in the world of the Capitol there's two kinds. There's the kind of money that everyone thinks will keep coming in year after year or "recurring." Then there's "non-recurring," or a supposed one-time windfall that may not be there next year.

The reason that lawmakers separate the two is that there is a thought that it's a bad idea to tie an ongoing expense to non-recurring money. The theory is that this is like wiping out your savings account in order to pay your mortgage. You will get another bill in a month so you have only delayed your financial problems. Now that's not to say that lawmakers haven't done the same thing in the past.

But the state constitution actually places a limit on how much non-recurring money can be placed in the state budget. Anything above 3 percent requires a three-fifths vote of the entire Legislature. So why is this a bit of a problem this year? Because one of the key problems with Gov. Rick Scott's push with phasing out the corporate income tax is that once you do that it starts converting so-called recurring money to non-recurring money. Even if lawmakers passed a bill this year that phases it out over the next seven years the economists will start counting it differently because now the money is "non-recurring."

THOSE PESKY CONFORMING BILLS...It used to be that state lawmakers would pass a 500-page budget and it included all sorts of directions and instructions on how to carry out the budget. Over the years - and thanks to some lawsuits along the way - the Legislature has started passing dozens of so-called "conforming" bills to accompany the budget. 

Sen. Don Gaetz last week asserted that these bills aren't usually substantive. Hmm. That may be true for many of them. But in reality these bills are measures that change state law in order to carry out spending reductions or changes. These measures can be just as sweeping as the budget. For example, how about a "conforming" bill that says money from a cigarette tax hike passed two years ago will no longer go to cancer research.

But it's more than just that. Lawmakers have placed all these conforming bills into the actual budget conference process. So what does that mean? That means they can't be amended once they reach the House and Senate floor. Last week, for example, the House and Senate included their pension reform bills into the budget conference. That means once top leaders negotiate what's in the bill it will be subject to an up or down vote. This has been a problem in the past because until last year the wording of conforming bills was decided behind closed doors.

In response to the scandal involving former House Speaker Ray Sansom, legislators vowed to go over each and every conforming bill in a public meeting. They have promised to do the same this year and a new clause in legislative rules requires a 24-hour waiting period before a final vote can be taken on conforming bills. The bottom line is this that t's not just the budget that you need to watch.

TURKEY AND PORK...No, this is not a Thanksgiving Day menu. In most places when a powerful politician puts something in the budget it's called "pork." In Tallahassee, the parlance is a budget "turkey." Of course, what gets defined as a turkey or pork is a matter of great debate each and every year.

The way the budget process usually work is this: First state agencies put in what's called a "legislative budget request." This is supposed to be an independent assessment by the agency of its financial needs in the coming year. Of course, surprise, surprise, some agencies have not followed that edict especially when agency heads report to a governor who has made it clear that he doesn't want his agencies asking for any additional money. After the "LBR's" are released, the governor takes that information and presents his official budget recommendations to the Legislature.

Lawmakers take the governor's recommendations and build upon it - adding or deleting things that they don't agree with. Many people say that anything not recommended by the governor or by a state agency is a budget turkey. In a lot of instances this is state money set aside for some type of local project or service. Over the years legislators have argued that their opinion on spending items is just as legitimate as that of an agency head in Tallahassee.

LINE-ITEM VETO POWER...One of the most important things to remember about how the state handles its budget is that the governor has line-item veto power. This means that the governor can completely eliminate any spending item without eliminating the entire budget.

Now, theoretically there are limits to this power. A governor is not legally allowed to veto what is called  "provisos" or instructions that accompany certain spending items without wiping out the spending item as well. The governor is also not allowed to veto part of an appropriation. So guess what happened under former Gov. Charlie Crist? Yep. Crist pretty much ignored these restrictions in law.

Did lawmakers complain? Sure they did. But they didn't sue to stop him either. Why is this so important? Because there is ample evidence that the current Legislature will not take the same stance with Gov. Rick Scott. Scott has already ruffled feathers with several steps he has taken that some legislators contend exceed his constitutional limits. If Scott uses the precedent set by Crist it could spark a full-fledged legal battle in front of the Supreme Court later this year.

 

 

 

 

Make or break day for Gov. Scott?

Largely out of his own making, this could be a make or break day for Gov. Rick Scott.

Scott, after building up anticipation for weeks now, will finally unveil his ideas later today on how to balance the state's budget and rebuild the state's economy. And in an interesting and politically confrontational way the "outsider" governor has chosen to release his budget at a Tea Party event in Central Florida.

This is quite a turnabout from the days of Gov. Charlie Crist. That's because while Crist's budget recommendations generated about a day's worth of news it was quickly eclipsed by the actions of the Florida Legislature. In fact, some lawmakers resented what they considered Crist's optimistic outlook and proposals versus the bleak fiscal reality that has settled over the state since the recession pushed the state's economy into a tailspin.

This is why Crist's budget proposals, especially those in the later half of his time as governor, were somewhat ignored.

Now we have the bitter medicine likely to be recommended by Scott. Mammoth spending cuts of $5 billion as well as significant tax cuts that he says will respark the state's economy.

But unlike Crist the new governor has banked most of his entire legislative agenda for 2011 on the proposals that he says will be explained in his budget, whether it's his property tax cuts or his bid to reform the state pension plan. Scott last month even vowed that lawmakers would pass his budget.

On the one hand some lawmakers are amazed that Scott is willing to be the "bad guy" so to speak. In other words, he's come out with with the really tough proposals that could likely make the Legislature appear somewhat benevolent in return.

Scott, however, is trying for an interesting political gambit. Since he operated outside the traditional GOP infrastructure, he's turning to the Tea Party groups to help act as his constituency for his recommendations. In recent weeks, he has warned about the "special interest groups" that will complain loudly about his proposals.

This is in itself a tacit acknowledgement that the "interest group" that Scott has to battle could be the Republican-controlled Legislature. The unspoken truth here is that Scott doesn't owe his victory to them, nor do legislative leaders owe any true support to him.

There are other things, however, that could undercut Scott's budget proposal. First, it slipped out on Friday that Scott intends to propose a "two-year" budget. The argument highlighted in an Associated Press story was that Scott wanted to take a longer view on the state's fiscal conditions.

But the problem is the Legislature is required to pass a budget every year.

Additionally, if Scott is pushing money, expenses, cuts off into a second year in order to create an overall balanced budget than his proposals are going to get short-circuited very quickly. Lawmakers have spent the last four years complaining about "gimmicks" that came from Crist. If Scott does something similiar, he could risk losing his credibility with the Legislature.

Other things to watch for today: How Scott treats so-called "trust" funds and the use of non-recurring money.

Donna Arduin, the former budget chief for Gov. Jeb Bush and one of Scott's advisors, helped draw up the new budget. Arudin, while working with Bush, basically disagreed with some of the central tenets that lawmakers relied on when building a budget. Arduin would make the argument that taxpayer money is taxpayer money and it doesn't matter if it came from the state's sales tax or came from a highly specialized fee that an industry paid.

This goes against a deeply ingrained mindset - as evidenced recently by Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam comments on the Department of Citrus - that some taxes aren't "state tax dollars." Arduin's rejoinder was that money is money and if came out of someone's pocket and was sent to state government than the state has the discretion to spend wherever it's needed. But groups such as homebuilders, Realtors and road builders, view it in a much different light. They will argue that some of these trust funds help these industries create jobs.

Another thing that Arduin disagreed with lawmakers on: The use of non-recurring money versus recurring money. This is a bit of an arcane idea, but legislators compare it to using your savings account to pay the mortgage. Your mortgage is due every month so you should pay with a steady stream of income instead of utilizing a one-time source of cash. Arduin felt otherwise during her stint with Bush and the governor would recommend budgets that would rely on non-recurring, so-called one-time sources of cash, to pay for operating expenses. It was largely due to Arduin's influence that the Legislature placed a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2006 that requires a three-fifths vote to approve a budget that uses more than 3 percent of non-recurring revenue for recurring purposes.

Of course, it's the budget cuts that will likely create a great amount of uproar and political consternation.

But if you put it all together this budget proposal could bring a quick end to Scott's honeymoon with the Legislature.

If lawmakers reject Scott's tax cuts, Scott's immigration proposal, and Scott's spending cuts, then it will be a long four years. Legislators do seem inclined to do some sort of pension reform - so that will be counted as a win regardless of the final design. Additionally, Scott appears to win approval of his bid bid to centralize economic development efforts.

Still if Scott gets about half of what he wants in his first year then how much will be get in his fourth year?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scott promises "eight years" that won't be boring

Rick Scott, the Naples businessman who shocked the political establishment in 2010, appears ready to push ahead with plans to shake up all of state government.

In a lengthy interview given days before he will sworn in as governor Scott even joked: "You think the next eight years will be boring? You will have plenty to write about."

You can read about the entire interview here at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

During the interview, which was given in the same room in the Capitol that former Gov. Jeb Bush used as his office, Scott touched on a number of subjects. But he didn't provide a lot of details, insisting instead that he will unveil comprehensive proposals between now and Feb. 4 when he must submit his first budget recommendations to the Florida Legislature.

But here are some key highlights:

* Scott still plans to donate his salary to charity, sell off the state plane and put his assets in a blind trust. The governor-elect says he has not yet decided who will get his more than $130,000 a year salary but that hasn't stopped people from already asking him for the money.

* Scott will decide by next week whether to withdraw some of the appointments that Gov. Charlie Crist has made in the waning days and weeks of his administration. Scott can call back the names of anyone who has not yet confirmed by the Florida Senate. "We're keeping all of our options open on what we're going to do," he said.

* The governor-elect has still not made his mind on what changes he will push to the Florida Retirement System other than requiring employees to contribute part of the cost.

* Scott wants to push ahead with his ambitious plan to expand the use of school vouchers, but he is still not sure if he will first ask the Florida Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would help make such a program immune to legal challenges.

* Scott will not back down from his promise to cut property taxes - even as the state struggles with a $3.5 billion budget gap. He also seems confident that he can accomplish his agenda - and take on other big items as well.

"It's not daunting,'' Scott said at one point. "It's going to be fun. It's going to be exciting."

* Scott said he will weigh in during the month of January on who he thinks should be the next chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Scott personally interviewed candidates for the job at the party quarterly meeting last month.

* Scott, who has never held public office before, said he tried to turned to those from the private sector for top jobs in his administration because "I want to have people who have accomplished things and know what they are doing."

 

 

 

 

Rick Scott's long list of challenges

A beaming Governor-elect Rick Scott and his wife, Ann, showed up at the governor’s mansion on Monday night where they joined Gov. Charlie Crist and First Lady Carole Crist for a symbolic menorah lighting ceremony.

Scott helped 11-year-old Mendy Oirechman light the candles of a large menorah that was placed up against one of the front windows and he later held hands with Crist as they briefly danced with some of the rabbis in attendance.

The ceremony, which was started under former Gov. Jeb Bush, was a tangible sign of some of the many social responsibilities that come with being governor. But it also could be seen as a prelude of many of the large and small challenges that will confront Scott once he is sworn into office in early January.

During the half-hour ceremony, he was reminded of Florida’s insurance problems when he was asked whether he planned to follow Crist’s footsteps. Crist went to Jerusalem and placed a prayer in the Wailing Wall where he asked God to spare Florida from hurricanes.  Rabbi Schneur Z. Oirechman politely asked whether or not the mezuzah that now sits on the door jamb into Crist’s office would remain once Scott becomes governor. Crist back in 2007 took some heat from groups such as the ACLU for placing the religious symbol in his office.

But there are many other large challenges that are looming for the rookie governor whether it's the state budget mess, the dismal economy, Medicaid and even the brewing leadership battle for the Republican Party of Florida.

The complete rundown on Scott's challenges can be found here at the Florida Tribune.

JD's bid to help others

The powerful budget chief in the Florida Senate - who also runs a company that owns thousands of acres - is pushing legislation that would make it harder to take away tax breaks enjoyed by farmers and other large land owners across the state.

The legislation was spurred by a North Florida court case where one of the nation's largest timber land owners lost its agricultural tax status after selling the land to a subsidiary for 12 times its current assessed value.

But the bill being pushed by Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, would allow property owners to retain the much lower tax rate as long as they can prove the land is still being used for agriculture.

Alexander, a grandson of citrus baron Ben Hill Griffin Jr., is the top executive at two companies that own as much as 200,000 acres. That includes Alico, which owns more 135,000 acres stretching from Polk County and down into southwest Florida. The company grows citrus, sugarcane and has a land development arm.

Alexander said there is nothing wrong with his backing of the tax break bill. He said he agreed to sponsor the bill at the urging of citrus growers and that it "applies to tens of millions of acres of land used for agriculture."

Here's the rest of the story.

Private school voucher bill comes with expensive price tag

 As published first in the Current by the Florida Tribune:

A private school voucher bill being pushed by top Republicans in the House and Senate could have a huge financial impact unless changes are made to the legislation.

Initial fiscal estimates showed that HB 1009 and SB 2126 would cost nearly $100 million in the upcoming fiscal year and would have a potential recurring cost of $242 million. The bills, sponsored by Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel and Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, would expand the tax sources that can be used to pay for a voucher program that helps out low-income families. The legislation would also increase the amount of each scholarship available over the next four years.

The current scholarship program serves nearly 28,000 children and allows companies to receive a tax credit when they give money to an organization that provides private school vouchers. The current program is capped at $118 million a year and backers of the legislation said the new bill would only grow the overall cost by 25 percent.

Negron said on Thursday that the bill – which was supposed by taken up by the Senate Finance and Tax Committee – had “technical issues” which need to be fixed before it can move forward. The plan is to alter the bill and bring back a new version next week that resolves some of the questions about its impact. State economists are scheduled to discuss that revamped version and come up with new financial estimates on Friday.

“We’re trying to make sure the numbers are accurate,’’ said Negron.

(UPDATE: State economists on Friday morning considered a revamped version of the bill and concluded it would have a financial impact of $31 million in the next fiscal year. That would grow to $65 million in 2011 and $107.8 million the following year.

However, the cost to the state could be offset by potential savings in the number of students who decide to use a voucher rather than attend a public school. Figures utilized by economists suggest that could reduce the overall impact and could even save a few million dollars. But this savings is also reached by assuming that 95 percent of the students who would use the scholarships would have wound up in public schools.)

House plans to review 51 sales tax exemptions

As the sun was going down in Tallahassee on Friday evening, the House released a list of 51 sale exemptions that will be discussed for repeal during the upcoming session. Lawmakers are looking at the exemptions because lawmakers must figure out how to deal with at least a $5 billion budget shortfall.

Here's the list:  Download Discuss for Repeal List

In her message to members of the House Finance and Tax Council, Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff stated: "As others in the House continue their budget review, our task is to examine the other side of the ledger to make sure that we are presenting Floridians with a fair and efficient tax system."

The most interesting items that were included on the list were the repeal of sales taxes on the sale of religious items, eyeglasses, bottled water, newspapers and magazines delivered by mail, advertising and subsidies for Florida's professional sports teams.

It's significant that the tax adverse House would go this far and put out a list that of sales tax exemptions for review. But it will be a long, long session and it would be wrong for anyone to assume that most, or any, of these exemptions will be repealed by the time lawmakers call it quits in May. Many of the exemptions up for review were suggested by Democrats and could easily be killed by the GOP majority.