After some contentious positioning, Senate President Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon announced Tuesday morning that they have reached a deal on budget allocations for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, setting the stage for a final conferencing.
The deal was announced less than 24 hours after the Senate's chief negotiator, Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, complained of Cannon's "stunts" and negotiating tactics and his House counterpart, Rep. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, blamed the Senate for the lack of progress.
"Resolving a budget shortfall of nearly $4 billion is a tall order, but Im pleased the House and Senate worked through this difficult process, said Cannon, R-Winter Park. Our allocations ensure that we preserve our bond ratings by maintaining adequate reserves. Most importantly, we do not take money out of the struggling Florida economy by increasing taxes or fees.
Haridopolos also praised the agreement -- and praised the cooperation between the two chambers.
"While many states and the federal government are foundering under crushing deficit spending, we kept our promise that we would not raise taxes or fees during these difficult economic times, said Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island. For months, I've heard over and over again that we would never be able to get this done. Working as a team, the House and Senate reached these budget allocations on behalf of all Floridians.
The two leaders said they would name members of the budget conference later Tuesday, with meetings starting on Wednesday morning.
Relying on $528.6 million from trust funds, the budget agreement would allocate more than $22.7 billion in general revenue. Education PreK-12 was allocated more than $8.2 billion in the agreement with Human Services receiving almost $7 billion. Criminal Justice and Corrections took more than $3.3 billion while Higher Ed walked away with more than $3.2 billion in allocations. General Government-Government Operations were allocated $259 million and there were more than $191 million in General Government-Agriculture and Environment allocations. The agreement allocated more than $136 million to economic development and tax relief while the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development and other agencies were allocated more than $293 million. More than $41 million would be set aside under the agreement for Administered Funds-Statewide Issues. Almost $748 million would be sent to Education PreK-12 from the State School Trust Fund under the agreement.
The agreement came after tough talk from both sides on Monday.
Grimsley, chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee and Cannons point woman on the budget, weighed in on the continued budget negotiations with the Senate late Monday -- and placed the blame for the increasing frustrations squarely on the Senate.
At this point, we have been unable to reach common allocations with the Senate, Grimsley noted in a memo sent out to House members. There remain a number of outstanding issues, including the degree of higher education funding and the scope of the reduction to the Florida Retirement System.
Prior to the start of the Senates weeklong recess, the House made an offer that had the two chambers only $155 million apart, continued Grimsley. We were optimistic that this offer would put us in striking distance of starting budget conference this week. Unfortunately, in each subsequent offer we have received, the Senate opened up previously agreed-on issues and moved further and further away, to the point where the last Senate offer places the House and Senate $425 million apart.
I fully embrace the need to be flexible and work toward a mutually beneficial outcome. However, while I am serving as the Appropriations chair, the House will not engage in a one-sided conversation that leaves us negotiating against ourselves, she added. I am hopeful that we will bring this process to a close, but I am committed to ensuring that we do not allow deadlines to influence our policymaking. The House will continue to advocate for a responsible budget that balances critical needs and ensures adequate reserves. We will also continue to insist that the budget be balanced on real, provable reductions and actuarially sound policies.
Senators fired back at the House Monday --with Alexander accusing Cannon of gamesmanship -- and both sides expressed willingness to keep the Legislature in Tallahassee after the end of regular session May 6.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com and Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com. They can both be reached at (850) 727-0859.
