DeSantis’ plan may be unconstitutional
Balancing state’s $92.3B budget with vetoes, federal dollars would shut out Legislature
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to balance the $92.3 billion state budget with federal dollars and vetoes could violate Florida’s Constitution because it would shut out the Legislature from the process.
DeSantis said Tuesday a special session likely won’t be needed to rework the spending plan, despite the massive drops in revenue brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
DeSantis said he believes the large number of vetoes he’s planning, combined with Florida’s $4 billion in reserves and some leeway from the federal government in spending CARES Act money, will allow him to make up for any shortfalls.
He’s also planning on requiring agencies to withhold spending at the end of each quarter.
“We’ve calculated that that could be a pretty significant amount of money,” DeSantis said. “You can actually save a lot of money by just withholding a small percentage.”
The Legislature usually guards its power of the purse, but House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes and Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, seem set to allow DeSantis to spend the federal
CARES Act money without legislative approval.
That could violate the state constitution that states “no money shall be drawn from the treasury except in pursuance of appropriation made by law.”
DeSantis, however, says the state of emergency declared for the coronavirus gives him the ability to spend CARES Act money without the approval of the Legislature.
Democrats are anxious to return to the Capitol to address not just the budget, but the problems with the unemployment benefits system and bias in policing, spurred by the mass protests after the killing of a black man in Minnesota at the hands of police. Republicans have rejected calls for a special session to act on those issues.
“We need input from our elected representatives,” said Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando. “Just because we adjourned session at the beginning of the pandemic doesn’t mean we don’t have a role to play and we can’t provide any input.”
Smith said he believes Republicans are avoiding a special session to deny Democrats a platform to slam DeSantis’ handling of the unemployment system, which has struggled to pay benefits as joblessness surged, and to push for accountability measures for police during a campaign season that is just beginning.
“They’re afraid of what will happen when the mics are turned on,” Smith said.
Politico reported Tuesday that DeSantis’ line-item vetoes could range from $500 million to $1 billion, potentially jeopardizing raises for state workers, and increases in spending on education, health care and prisons.
But even massive vetoes might not be enough to make up for falling revenues. Florida’s revenues in April alone were nearly $900 million less than expected.
The Legislature would normally convene to rework the budget in the face of an unexpected drop off in revenues, as it did in 2009 when it passed tobacco tax increases and cut state workers to fill a $2.5 billion shortfall amid the Great Recession. But legislative leaders haven’t indicated a special session is needed.
The budget, HB 5001, was formally sent to DeSantis on Wednesday, and he has until July 1 to sign it. But the spending plan lawmakers passed unanimously in March was based on revenue projections made in January by state economists, two months before the pandemic shut down the state’s tourism industry.
“The most recent sales tax forecast relies heavily on strong tourism growth,” a February report by state economists states. “It assumes no events that have significant repercussions affecting tourism occur during the forecast window.”
About 79% of Florida’s $33 billion general revenue fund, the biggest pot of discretionary money in the state budget, comes from sales taxes. DeSantis is hoping for a quick, “V-shaped” economic recovery, but that’s likely to depend on how quickly tourists will feel comfortable traveling again.
According to a Harris poll survey cited by Visit Florida, the state’s tourism marketing agency, 59% of respondents said they’d wait at least four months before staying in a hotel again; 22 % said it would be at least a year. Sixty-eight percent will wait four months before flying on a plane and 27% will wait a year.
Now, DeSantis says he’s directing agencies to hold back spending each quarter and isn’t moving forward with $20 million in planned job training and transportation grants to help save money.
GOP leaders have said the uncertainty of the pandemic means it wouldn’t be prudent to rush back to Tallahassee to redo the budget. State economists haven’t made new revenue projections for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts July 1.
But 21 other states have already reworked their budget figures according to the new economic reality, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and some are moving to pass new budgets.