A Senate budget proposal released late Monday afternoon reveals the chambers desire to spend nearly $69.8 billion in the upcoming fiscal year.
The total is $581 million less than the current fiscal year, but $3.3 billion more than proposals in the House, and $3.9 billion more than Gov. Rick Scotts preferred budget.
The upper chamber is calling for more state workers than any other proposal, with a suggestion of 125,187 positions compared with Scotts 118,083 full-time employees.
One of the biggest budget differences between Scott and the Senate is in the area of health and human services, perennially one of the biggest consumers of the state budget.
Scotts $29.17 billion budget for the various state health agencies include the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Elder Affairs, the Department of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Senate proposal actually calls for $773 million less than Scott in health agency allocations, but suggests 2,240 more employees for those agencies.
Education, another large portion of the state budget pie, is funded at $19.2 billion in the Senate budget, about $110 million more than the governors.
The proposals issued by the legislative and executive branches are the first step in what will likely be a long and arduous budget process, and despite the discrepancy between the proposals on the large budget items, politics could play a larger role in settling the appropriations figures for some of the smaller ticket items.
For instance, Scott calls for his office to be funded at $638.6 million in his budget, with 420 full-time employees. That request would add 91 employees and nearly double the current allocation for the governors executive office, due mainly to Scotts plan to move emergency management services under his direct control as well as take a greater hand in economic development agencies.
The Senate plan, however, calls for Scotts office to be funded at $306.2 million -- less than half of Scotts request -- but suggests 23 more employees are needed to get the job done.
Despite the inevitable differences between the legislative and executive budget plans, Floridas elected leaders have remained on the same page in one regard -- no tax increases.
Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, and House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, have consistently repeated that Floridas taxpayers will not see any tax increases in their budget. Instead, they will look for ways to cut spending in order to make up the states $3.75 billion budget deficit.
Scott has gone further, pledging not only spending cuts to balance the budget, but tax cuts for property owners and corporations as well.
Extensive budget workshop meetings will begin Thursday in the Senate.
Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
