by John Haughey
The Center Square
March 20, 2020
The Florida Legislature convened for less than two hours Thursday [March 19[ to unanimously adopt a $93.2 billion fiscal year 2021 budget that “did not ignore reality but also did not overreact” to the coronavirus pandemic.
Lawmakers reassembled at noon Thursday after disbanding Sunday, returning to Tallahassee after meeting a state-mandated 72-hour pause between preliminary and final budget votes to cast ballots in a near-empty capitol building.
Twenty-four of 140 House and Senate members were not present to vote on three budget bills – the General Appropriations Act, House Bill 5001; its implementation bill, House Bill 5003; and a collective bargaining agreement, House Bill 5005.
They were adopted in the House in 104-0 votes, and in the Senate 20 minutes later in 32-0 tallies.
The Senate vote concluded the 2020 legislative session at 1:50 p.m. without the traditional sine dine rotunda “hanky drop,” but with an unceremonious call to return home to await further developments should the budget need revision after the COVID-19 outbreak slackens and before fiscal 2021 begins July 1.
“This is an unprecedented time in state history,” said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Rob Bradley, R-Orange Park, noting the budget “gives our state the tools and resources it needs and provides robust reserves. This is a responsible budget that did not ignore reality but also did not overreact.
“We make these decisions based on the best information before us, and part of that information is the uncertainty before us.”
The budget earmarks $300 million for reserves to address the COVID-19 outbreak. The budget also includes $25.5 million requested by Gov. Ron DeSantis from this year’s budget and $27.3 million in federal assistance to combat the coronavirus.
Despite the emergence of the coronavirus emergency late in budget planning, Bradley and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Travis Cummings, R-Orange Park, said the plan still makes advances.
“May God bless our caretakers,” Bradley said, noting the budget includes $75 million in increased funding for higher salaries at nursing homes and long-term care providers and deals with the state Agency for Disabled People (APD) in “a very aggressive manner,” allocating $160 million in increased funding.
House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Chris Latvala, R-Clearwater, said the budget allocates $400 million for base teacher pay increases and $100 million for veteran teachers and other school workers.
An additional $340 million increases the base student allowance (BSA) by $40.
The budget allocates $39.4 billion to health care, including $29.7 billion for Medicaid to serve 3.8 million adults and more than 600,000 children in KidCare, for those who do not qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford insurance.
The plan earmarks $690 million for water quality projects, “exceeding the governor’s request,” Bradley said, referring to DeSantis’ $625 million budget request for the second year of his four-year $2.5 billion Everglades and water quality program.
The budget includes $100 million for Forever Florida, a 3 percent across-the-board pay raise for state workers beginning in October rather than July, and $387 million for affordable housing.
“We did not raid the affordable housing fund,” Bradley said, drawing an applause from senators.
The budget earmarks $86 million in “new dollars” for the Department of Corrections, including salary hikes beyond the 3 percent pay raise for state workers.
“I have never voted on a budget that will have such impact, not only in this year but years to come,” said Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, whose constituency includes many state workers.
Senate President-Elect Wilton Simpson, R-Spring Hill, said the budget does not back away from priorities – such as teacher pay – for now.
It is “subject to change when there is other information available,” he said. “That is what we had as of 7:30 this morning. This is the information that we have.”