Governor seeks pay bump for teachers
$900 million addition to budget would fund raises and bonuses
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a $91.4 billion state budget proposal on Monday, with more money to boost teacher salaries, invest in the environment and address chronic problems in the state prison system.
The $900 million in new funding for teacher raises and bonuses, and other initiatives included in his plan isn’t paid for with new or higher taxes, a crucial choice for DeSantis, who pledged during the campaign to block any tax increase.
Instead, DeSantis says he’ll pay for the new spending with additional revenue from economic growth and $480.5 million in cuts to other agencies.
Those cuts and savings would come by eliminating $80 million in earmarks, getting rid of the $285 million Best and Brightest teacher bonus program, renegotiating contracts and leases and reducing interest payments on outstanding debt, according to DeSantis’ office.
“We’ve got to do this in a way that is fiscally responsible and fiscally sustainable,” DeSantis said. “You have the ability to do a lot of really bold things but do that within the context of a budget that is built for the long haul, and I think we did that today.”
The proposal is a recommendation to lawmakers, who will pass a final budget during a 60-day legislative session that begins Jan. 14.
Teacher shortage
DeSantis had already released big-ticket plans, including $603 million to increase the minimum salary for teachers to $47,500, in an attempt to address a teacher shortage that has plagued districts across the state. DeSantis said the plan would affect 101,000 teachers in the state.
That plan initially received a
lukewarm reception from House Speaker Jose Oliva, a fellow Republican and fiscal hawk averse to new programs with a heavy price tag. But on Monday Oliva seemed more amenable, citing DeSantis’ “commitment to responsible spending.”
“The governor’s budget recommendations are most encouraging,” said Oliva in a statement. “While the details of his ambitious teacher-pay program remain obscure, not a small matter, his commitment to responsible spending is crystal clear.”
Oliva called the proposal a “solid base upon which to begin our budget discussions.”
Another piece of DeSantis’ pay bump for teachers includes a $300 million bonus plan to replace the Best and Brightest program, which he deemed unfair because it based bonuses on teachers’ standardized test scores from high school.
The new program would award bonuses of between $500 and $7,500 to full-time classroom teachers whose schools receive a grade of 85% or higher or which improve by 6% in their annual school grade evaluations.
While the Florida Education Association and some Democrats have called on DeSantis to go further and push for raises for school staff beyond classroom teachers, his plans drew praise from House Democratic Leader Kionne McGhee of Miami.
“It is absolutely critical that we give teachers and school staff raises this year,” McGhee said in a statement. “This is the number one priority of the Florida House Democrats. We look forward to working with Governor DeSantis and our Republican colleagues to craft a budget that includes raises for our educators.”
According to statistics from the National Education Association, Florida’s average teacher salary of $48,526 is 48th among states, which
teachers unions have said led to the chronic teacher shortages.
$22.9B for schools
The overall K-12 schools budget is $22.9 billion, about $1 billion more than the current year. That includes $100 million for mental health initiatives, a $25 million increase for school-based mental health services providers.
Voluntary Pre-K programs would receive $415 million, a $12.8 million increase to accommodate a projected enrollment growth of 1,876 students.
DeSantis also is pushing for $625 million in environmental spending, part of his pledge to increase it by $2.5 billion over three years, which would include $50 million for beach restoration, $50 million in springs restoration and $100 million for Florida Forever, a state lands conservation program.
A $1 million program to remove invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades is included as well.
The plan includes $2.8 billion for the Department of Corrections, a $114 million increase from the current year. That money would help pay for hiring more than 200 new prison guards and increase salaries to reverse the agency’s high turnover rate.
The Office of Public and Professional Guardians, would receive $14.7 million, a $6.4 million increase.
Advocates and some lawmakers have called for reforms and more funds following revelations that Rebecca Fierle, a guardian for more than 400 elderly patients in Central Florida, signed Do Not Resuscitate orders without her clients’ permission in some cases, and allegedly double-billed Advent Health hospitals for her services.
Guards and probation officers with at least five years of experience would get a $2,500 raise, while those with two years of experience would get a $1,500 hike. The staffing issues at DOC have led to low morale and the extensive use of overtime to cover shifts.
Seeking to end a perennial budget battle, DeSantis wants $50 million for Visit Florida, which would maintain its current year funding but which would still be a $26 million cut from the previous year.
Oliva and House Republicans have fought to eliminate the program entirely, deeming it “corporate welfare” out of line with freemarket principles. But DeSantis wants to keep the state’s tourism marketing group for at least eight more years, providing the agency with stability, rather than continue the annual debate over its existence.
Ahead of the 2020 elections next November, DeSantis would put $5 million in cybersecurity grants to beef up election security by hiring 10 experts to combat threats and support local supervisors of elections.
The new spending initiatives, however, might have crowded out room for large tax cut plans that DeSantis included as part of his campaign platform.
Tax savings
DeSantis’ budget includes an eight-day back-to-school sales tax holiday, projected to save shoppers $56 million, and a 10-day sales tax holiday for hurricane-preparedness supplies that could save up to $9 million.
His plan also cuts the millage rate for the portion of local property taxes that go to K-12 schools back to current year funding, a reduction projected to save property owners $247.3 million.
But those plans are small compared with his pledge during the campaign to phase out the business rent tax, cut the corporate income tax and reduce the communication services tax on cellphones, television and streaming video services.
None of those proposals made it into his budget plan.