Florida's fiscal frustration

There's an interesting juxtaposition of front-page news in the two biggest newspapers in south Florida today.

The Sun-Sentinel features an article about the major budget cuts the state's community colleges are facing, while the Herald conversely trumpets the legislature's approval of a massive property tax cut ... and the Republican-dominated legislature is angling for more tax cuts to come.

From the Sun-Sentinel:

Gov. Charlie Crist has told the state's 28 community colleges, as well as all state agencies, to expect budget cuts of 4 percent to 10 percent because of lower-than-expected tax collections. That could be as much as $115.6 million in cuts statewide. The schools must submit budget reduction proposals by Aug. 8.

The colleges, which serve about 800,000 students a year, will consider limiting hiring, freezing enrollment and salaries, cutting courses and asking the state for special permission to raise tuition this spring.

"The great majority of our student tuition is covered by financial aid, so tuition increases do not have any impact on many of our students, yet are essential to maintaining the college's operations," said Juan Mendieta, a spokesman for Miami Dade College, which faces between $7.9 million and $19.1 million in cuts.

A 4 percent cut at Broward Community College would be almost $3 million, while a 10 percent cut would be $7.4 million.

The cuts come a month after Crist vetoed a 5 percent tuition increase for community colleges and universities.

Indeed, the eleven state universities similarly have been advised to expect budget cuts in the 4-10% range, which makes Gov. Crist's recent veto of a 5% tuition increase for higher education all the more damaging.

Meanwhile, the Herald tells us that, as is their wont, the Republicans don't give a shit:

The Florida Legislature passed the biggest property-tax cut in state history Thursday amid partisan quarrels about relieving over-taxed citizens and gutting schools and emergency services.

The first stage of the complicated two-part plan should save the average taxpayer about 7 percent this year by rolling back, cutting and capping local-government tax collections.

The second stage will ask voters on Jan. 29 to amend the state Constitution and super-size tax exemptions by as much as $195,000 for a home with a market value of $500,000 or more.

Though large, the savings could be smaller than originally billed for the plan, which comes after four months of intense and at-times-secretive legislative haggling.

The $31.6 billion price tag was watered down by as much as $7 billion over five years Thursday when Republicans reduced cuts to some fire-rescue districts and changed the proposed amendment to ensure homeowners could keep their existing Save Our Homes tax cap.

Unchanged: as much as $7.2 billion in cuts school districts could face if the amendment passes. If the amendment fails, schools would be unaffected.

Democrats opposed the amendment on a party-line vote. But fearing the label of "obstructionist, " they abandoned plans to push the vote to November 2008. They predicted voters won't approve the controversial measure anyway because of its "devastating" consequences.

House Speaker Marco Rubio, a West Miami Republican, downplayed the troubles and said he and most taxpayers want more tax cuts, not fewer.

"This is about people's pocketbooks. And people will always put their pocketbooks ahead of politicians, " said Rubio, who proposed about $44 billion in tax cuts this spring. "Ultimately, property-tax reform was something that had to happen, and nothing could stand in the way of it."

The fatal flaw in Rubio's argument, of course, is his claim that "people" will want tax cuts. But will they accept the resulting deep, catastrophic cuts in local and state government services, education, and other items they may take for granted? This isn't pearl-clutching ... these are real cuts that will have to happen:

House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach said the amendment is doomed because "people are going to go to the polls and say: What kind of choice is this, take money away from school children?"

Republicans said they'll find the money for schools in future years because the state Constitution states that education is of "paramount" importance. Sen. Mike Haridopolos, the Melbourne Republican who leads the Senate tax committee, said people will have to "trust" the Legislature to continue its education spending increases. He issued a pledge to properly fund schools "by any means necessary."

Noting Florida's low graduation rate and low education spending compared to other states, Democratic Sen. Ted Deutch or Boca Raton bristled at Republican claims that Democrats were exaggerating the effects of the tax cuts.

"There is certainty in this bill: that there will be a $7 billion cut to education over four years, " Deutch said, noting that emergency workers painted a dire picture during a Wednesday meeting with Democrats.

"We heard yesterday from the firefighters and from the police that in fact there will be layoffs, " he said. "We don't believe them? Is that the argument?"

The universities and community colleges in particular are facing dire times because of the lack of funding -- believe me, as an employee of a state university, I know it all too well. Meanwhile, the Republicans can crow to their constituents about their "generous" tax reductions ... while those same constituents watch their schools fall even farther behind, their colleges and universities cut programs and enrollment, and their fire and police protection diminish if not disappear altogether.

Forgive me if I'm not exactly reassured by Sen. Haridopolos' urging that we "trust" the legislature to fund education. He's one of the chief architects of the destruction of Florida's tax base, taking much-needed money away from schools and services for the sake of giving a few dollars back to taxpayers. If the intent is to bolster the economy by giving taxpayers more disposable income, is it really worth it to do so at the expense of our children's education? I believe it is not.

And don't even get me started on the Democrats' decision not to move the amendment to November 2008 -- an election almost guaranteed to have huge Democratic turnout. For my part, I'd rather be called "obstructionist" than "weak" or "uncaring," and the Democrats' decision strikes me as both of the latter adjectives ... especially when they, too, are asking us to "trust" that the electorate will reject the amendment. There would have been a much better chance of rejection in a general election with large Democratic turnout than there will be for the January 29 special election.

So, once again, Florida's legislature finds a way to screw us but good. And as long as the majority of people in this state vote on moral issues rather than the issues that really affect us as individuals, long-term, we're going to face the same struggles time and time again.