Legislature agrees to $91.1 billion budget, but DeSantis didn’t get all he wanted
Florida lawmakers signed off on a $91.1 billion state budget late Tuesday, the first budget of the Gov. Ron DeSantis era.
And although it’s about $200 million less than what DeSantis asked for, it’s $2.4 billion more than this year’s budget.
And DeSantis still got much of what he wanted on key issues, including on environmental spending.
But not quite on education.
DeSantis had originally proposed a $422 million increase to the state’s teacher bonus program, called “Best and Brightest.” The Legislature’s total amount for this year fell far short at around $285 million, but the governor told reporters Wednesday that he’s not finished talking about the issue of teacher pay.
“That’s the legislative process,” he said of the shortfall, adding that he was pleased with extra funding to districts that can be used for salaries. “We’re in the bottom third [nationally for teacher pay], we’ve got to do better than that as a state. … This is one down payment, but I think we’re going to be dealing with this issue again.”
The final per-student increase for the 2019-20 school year will be $243, a significant bump from last year’s $101. Within that figure is a $75 per-pupil increase in the pot of flexible district spending money, used for the dayto-day costs of operating schools, everything from salaries for employees to electric bills.
Last year, that same category, called the “base student allocation,” saw an increase of only 47 cents, sparking outrage among school superintendents who demanded the Legislature reconvene and add more funding.
Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho noted that this $75 boost represents the highest increase in the flexible district spending, which he called the “clearest indicator” of state education funding, since the 2015-16 budget.
“We certainly should celebrate a $75 increase to the BSA,” he said. “We could very well see ourselves in a position where … in this next year, we would not have to make reductions to balance the budget as was the case in the last four years.”
Another top-line figure is what the state will spend on mental health services in schools. Last year, after the Parkland shooting, lawmakers pumped new money in the per-student funding that would help schools better fund counselors, psychologists and social workers. The state will increase that category by $5.8 million — a far cry from the Senate’s proposed $31 million increase. The House, however, had originally proposed no increase in mental health funding.
When it comes to the maintenance of school buildings, only charter schools will receive state money for that this year — at $158 million. Public district schools, universities and colleges won’t receive any money for their building maintenance from the state.
Rep. Travis Cummings, R-Orange Park, the House’s budget chief, said that decision was made because traditional public schools can rely on locally raised property taxes for building costs, while charters cannot.
However, a bill that passed the Florida House may change that, as money collected through local referendums that raise local property taxes would be required to be shared with charter schools. It’s still unclear whether the Senate will adopt that bill language.
The budget chairs also set aside $250,000 for the Department of Education for “litigation expenses.” Cummings confirmed that is for current as well as potential future lawsuits over the Legislature’s “bold” education laws. The House on Tuesday passed a bill that creates a new school voucher, which is similar to a previously created program struck down by the state Supreme Court in 2006.
UNIVERSITIES TAKE A HIT
The base budget for universities’ operations was cut by $35 million this year — the culmination of threats repeated throughout the session by the Florida House to trim what it saw as fat in the way universities are funded. The House took a skeptical approach to higher education budgets this year after it was discovered that the University of Central Florida misused funds meant for general operations and instead spent it on building construction.
Some universities, however, were dealt a softer blow thanks to last-minute, recurring funding placed in the final iteration of the budget offers. Florida International University received $15 million, while the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg received $3.5 million. USF also received $12.4 million toward the completion of its downtown college of medicine.
The budget includes about $682 million for environmental needs, such as Everglades restoration and protection of Florida’s many freshwater springs, which was one of DeSantis’ campaign promises.
The budget proposes spending $33 million to buy and preserve land under the Florida Forever program — far less than the $100 million DeSantis wanted and what lawmakers spent last year.
And there’s $31 million for state parks. DeSantis asked for $50 million, as state parks in the Panhandle took a hit in Hurricane Michael and require extensive restoration of trees and facilities.
Senate Budget Chair Rob Bradley said the $682 million environmental spending exceeds DeSantis’ $625 million proposal, and that lawmakers were proud of the large number. The money includes $322.6 million for Lake Okeechobee restoration and $100 million for springs.
HEALTHCARE
Lawmakers also — uncharacteristically — moved quickly to button up a behemoth multibillion healthcare budget, which has typically held up negotiations until the final stage in past years.
Though the Senate had proposed redistributing a $318 million “automatic rate enhancements” fund that supplements existing Medicaid reimbursements to 28 of the state’s hospitals with the highest Medicaid caseloads, both chambers agreed to trim just $9.5 million from that fund this year.
Jackson Health in Miami-Dade is projected to lose about $1.5 million, while Tampa General might lose about $268,000, according to an analysis done by the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida. Nicklaus Children’s Hospital would lose a little under $70,000, while All Children’s in St. Petersburg might actually gain about $94,000.
Information from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.
A harsher, heavily amended version of the Senate’s bill to ban so-called “sanctuary cities” in Florida was approved by the House Wednesday.
The bill will now go back to the Senate, where President Bill Galvano said he expects his chamber to amend the bill to make it its own and send it back to the House. Then the House has to take one last vote — or change it again and send it back.
“I think the fact that the governor and his team has weighed in has made a difference,” Galvano said. “But we’re still the Senate. We’ve made our own adjustments and we’ll make adjustments again.”
The Bradenton Republican said the governor and his staff have been “very engaged” on the issue, and it’s had an effect on pushing the bill further than it has gone in past sessions.
The House’s move is one in a series of volleys back and forth as the two chambers walk the fine line between creating a law they like and simply getting something done.
The Senate version of the bill was heavily amended by the House during the wee hours of Wednesday morning, transforming it overnight into what looks nearly identical to the House’s harsher version of the bill.
Under both bills, local and state law enforcement would be required to honor federal law enforcement’s request for an “immigration detainer,” meaning a request that another law enforcement agency detain a person based on probable cause to believe that the person is a “removable alien” under federal immigration law. The bill would essentially make the “request” a requirement.
But the House’s amendment built in a rule that government employees or elected officials who permit sanctuary-city policies may be suspended or removed from office. It also includes fines of up to $5,000 for each day that a sanctuarycity policy is in place, an “anonymous complaint’ web portal through the attorney general for any person to submit an alleged violation of the policy and the threat of removal of state grant funding for entities with so-called “sanctuary policies.”
House bill sponsor Rep. Cord Byrd said that even if the Senate strips down the House version, “there will be some enforcement.” He said at the minimum, it will have language that allows the governor the power to enforce compliance of the law.
“Our goal is to get a bill that works for law enforcement and works for the governor to sign,” the Neptune Beach Republican said. “I still feel good. There’s time. We’re going to have some late nights.”
Democrats fought back on the floor, expressing the same concerns they’ve expressed each time the bill has come up: It is too broad and would affect innocent undocumented immigrants.
Rep. Evan Jenne, who led the structured debate for the House Democrats, said he expects the Democrats to continue their pushback.
“We will fight past the point of exhaustion on this issue.” the Dania Beach Democrat said. “This bill will come back and we will do it over again. Over and over, and over again.”
Byrd said the “killer to the bill” was a Senate amendment by Miami Democrat José Javier Rodríguez, which exempted the Department of Children and Families from the requirements of the bill. He said as long as the Senate doesn’t add it back in, “I think we’ll be able to get to a place both chambers could live with.”
The Senate will likely take up the newly amended version Thursday, and either vote to amend it or keep it the same.
Sen. Tom Lee, a Thonotosassa Republican said the House’s sending back an amended version is “setting up a real dangerous game,” which he expressed to Gov. Ron DeSantis when he met with him Wednesday afternoon.
While the legislative session will extend until Saturday, the special weekend day will be reserved to voting on the budget. All other bills will have to pass on Friday if they are to pass at all.
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau reporter Lawrence Mower contributed to this report. Samantha J. Gross: 850-222-3095, @samanthajgross