Haridopolos on Budget Cuts, Pill Mills and Ethics Bills

Senate President Mike Haridopolos says he's prepared to make tough decisions to cut the state's budget and fill Florida's $3.8 billion deficit hole, including finding savings in the Medicaid program and in the benefits for state workers.

"The alternative is what you're seeing in Washington, D.C., where they don't cut anything," Haridopolos said when asked about other increases in costs like property insurance rates and tuition hikes.

One area that will likely see cuts this year is education, which the lecturing professor at the University of Florida said he would rather not see, but is a reality of the state's budget situation.

"I don't want to cut money out of education, that's the last place I want to cut," he said.

Haridopolos did not rule out tax cuts, which are preferred by Gov. Rick Scott, but said spending cuts must come first.

"At this point we're focused on cutting spending first," Haridopolos said.

On pill mill legislation that passed a House committee Tuesday that includes a repeal of the prescription drug database, Haridopolos said the repeal is not likely to pass the Senate, pointing to a similar amendment that was overwhelmingly voted down in a Senate committee earlier this week.

"I don't have a lot of hope for that one in the Senate," he said.

Haridopolos announced Tuesday the Senate would move forward with ethics reform bills, which include provisions barring legislators from voting on bills or issues that could benefit them or their relatives financially. He declined to say whether he thought other members of the executive branch, like the governor, should be subject to the same ethics rules.

"You'll have to ask the governor that question," he said. Haridopolos added that the bill first offered by Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, would get a full airing in the Senate. "That's what the spirit of her bill is about -- disclosure," he said.