A constitutional amendment capping Florida's revenue took one step closer to being placed on the ballot Tuesday, as the Florida Senate passed the "smart cap" bill.
The amendment would place limits on state revenues by tying annual increases to population growth and inflation.
"If government takes less, the people have more. I don't know about you, but I'm fine with that," said Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, who sponsored the bill.
The vote fell 27-13 along largely partisan lines, with just two Republicans, Sens. Paula Dockery of Lakeland and Nancy Detert of Venice, voting against it. Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, broke his party's ranks to vote for the bill, even though the Democratic caucus voted Tuesday morning to take a caucus position against the bill.
Democratic objections centered on the bill's potential to affect the state's bond rating, and the negative effects a similar measure has had in Colorado.
"When you do that, the bond market gets very upset. There are a lot of investors in the state of Florida that when there was an intangible tax, they bought general obligation bonds. With the passage of this legislation those bonds are going to be worth less money," said Sen. Gwen Margolis, D-Sunny Isles.
Voters in Colorado passed a similar cap in the 1990s, but the law was made in such a way as to overly restrict the state's ability to restrict. The cap was later lifted as spending on education and health care became jeopardized.
"I know the sponsor says that this is not Colorado's TABOR, but it's close enough," said Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich of Weston.
But Bogdanoff insisted that Florida's version of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, would be flexible enough to allow for increases during cases of emergency like natural disastors or to provide more money for education.
Under the amendment, the cap could be broken in three ways. The Legislature could vote to reset the cap by a two-thirds majority or temporarily bust the cap for one year via a three-fifths vote. Voters could also reset or eliminate the cap through another constitutional amendment.
"All we are doing is asking the voters if this is what they want," Bogdanoff said.
Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, noted that Republicans were breaking their traditional rhetoric of not meddling with the state Constitution, inserting items that would be better dealt with statutorily.
"I apologize Governor (Jeb) Bush that we're doing this to you," Smith said.
But a revenue cap already exists in the Constitution. Supporters of "smart cap" say it's needed because it is ineffective and has never been threatened.
"We already have a cap in the Constitution. If it's a spoiler we've already done it but it's not working," Bogdanoff said.
If passed by the House and signed by Gov. Rick Scott, the measure would be placed before voters in the 2012 general election. Democratic supporters warned Senate members that the measure would be used to help turn out conservative voters in 2012.
"There are already groups thinking about formulating all their strategies based on whether or not this is on the ballot," Rich Templin, communications director for the AFL-CIO said during the Democratic caucus meeting.
Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
