Where the House and Senate budgets stand

Where the House and Senate budgets stand

The PBA has been closely following the budgetary process and wants to let our members know what how each budget proposal will affect you. First, both the Senate and the House vote on their own versions of the budget. They will meet over the next couple of weeks to work out the differences.

Currently the Senate budget is $2.7 billion more than the House's. The reason is that the House does not include supplemental federal Medicaid money, does not assume that all 67 county school boards will levy an additional property tax increase to make up budget shortfalls, and the House does not include money from a gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

The Senate budget includes a .25 percent of one-percent contribution for state employees to their retirement plans, including DROP accounts. FRS has been non-contributory for 35 years; this provision would change that principle-with higher contributions sure to follow. The House budget does not include this provision. Meanwhile, the House budget (HB 5701) eliminates the health insurance subsidy (HIS) for current and future retirees. On April 1st the House originally voted down HB 5701 57 to 59 (click here for floor vote Session Sequence No: 661). Fifteen Republicans crossed the aisle and voted with all Democrats against the bill.

After a temporary recess and some strong arm-twisting of Republican members who originally voted against the bill, HB 5701 was reconsidered and then passed 63 to 56 (click here for floor vote Session Sequence No: 671). Members who originally voted no then changed to yes on killing HIS are: Ed Homan, Paige Kreegel, Charles McBurney and Trudi Williams. Representative Baxter Troutman originally voted yes for the bill but later voted against killing the subsidies.

The House budget also includes a 3 percent salary cut to state workers at the discretion of agency heads. This cut is not in the Senate proposal.

As our State Correctional Officers are well aware, the Florida PBA successfully killed a Senate proposal to close a number of public prisons to fill a private prison, killed a move to privatize a current state-run prison, and killed a proposal to privatize work release centers.

The budget is not done and we need all our members to be aware of PBA requests for assistance in contacting legislators and to take whatever action the PBA calls on you to do. We cannot overstress how important this is. For example, if it weren't for all your calls and emails, we would never have stopped the Senate prison privatization proposal.

Florida PBA's lobbying staff, assisted by PBA leaders from around the state, have been at the Capitol since Day 1 fighting these bad proposals. We will be there to the end to stop this damage to public employees.

David Murrell
PBA Executive Director