Bad revenues won't sharpen Crist's veto pen

Gov. Charlie Crist said continued bad news, when it comes to revenue numbers, won't make his veto pen more stringent. There's Buzz that April revenue dollars are going to be down even more.

"We're reviewing the budget right now. . .those aren't really determining factors in deciding on what may or may end up in the budget. But I look forward to being as fiscally prudent as I can," Crist said.

When asked if he or his office had already identified budget turkeys ripe for the veto pen, Crist said: "I've made no judgments yet."

Comments

Crist said: "I've made no judgments yet."

Chuckism Translation: "I have not seen the polls yet"

[Uncle Ricco]

9:43...did you miss the school bus this morning?

9:43 speaks the truth! After all, Chuckie boy thought everything was rosey and dandy with the state! He even thought his baby idiot Amendment 1 was going to save the freakin' day!

No, Uncle Ricco… I was at the bus stop this morning dropping off my kids for their daily ride to school. Question is; what were you doing there, in the bushes, sporting a raincoat and a bag of candy?

Save you butt kissing for you Tally Town boss… the rest of us have seen the light.

Humm, I guess St. Joe Paper Company and private sports teams are SAFE!!! Thank goodness, after all they are much more important than parole officers, child abuse investigators, foster care workers and services to the severely mentally and physically handicapped. And gosh, Education is so well funded they certainly couldn't use that $$$$$$$$!

Can I give my $240 back?… it was only going to buy me 12 trips to a public bathroom anyway.

Love,

Bob Allen

[Crist will not be VP]

The only things that will be dropping like a rock this year are:
-Your poll numbers
-McCain's poll numbers if he picks you for VP

Will this help people understand that this is a cycle and not simply a "rainy day"... more drastic measures are needed than chipping away at our savings given that we will be in this for another 12 - 15 moths... This is not a blip, it is a trend.

9:43 hit the nail on the head.

Dear 11:23 a.m.,

Can you please cite in the history of the state the last time that this cycle caused cuts to the public schools of nearly $1 billion year over year? Can you cite the year when the base student allocation was cut year over year in the past forty years? Can you?

The cuts to public education are unprecedented. If you only look as general revenue allocations for the schools, over $1.3 billion has been taken from the FEFP over the past 12 months (about 12.5%). When has this EVER happened before? NEVER.

If it isn't raining now, there isn't a good reason to have the Budget Stabilization fund at all. If it can NEVER do any good, we might as well return these "tax dollars" back to the people.

[terminator]

glad more people are seeing the light.

Chuck's translation is more like this "no I won't veto various member projects even if they're turkeys because they helped me pass my lame health care package"

Charlie you are PATHETIC!

"If it isn't raining now, there isn't a good reason to have the Budget Stabilization fund at all"

The Budget Stabilization fund is for when the state is about to go into default or another true fiscal emergency.

Fiscal conservatives often note that the "taxes belong to the people." I suggest that it is taxing the people and then SAVING the money that actually takes it from their pockets without even giving them some services back. At least when local and state governments "tax and spend," the taxpayers get something for their money. What good is a budget stabilization fund that can never be used? How many times has it been used since it was created? Has the state EVER been in as bad a budget situation as it is now?

11:35 - but you seem to think the solution is to put more money into education... while I don't necessarily disagree with the sentiment, I do question where and how added money is spent.

So while the trend we are experiencing is more than a blip - experts are saying 12-15 months, adjustments need to be made... since the future outlook is not rosy by any means.

Are you suggesting we sould have used most or all of the rainy day fund to hold education harmless this year so next year, any needed cuts would be felt even that much more?

Oh my goodness NO! He can't possibly VETO the $110 milion airport for ST. JOE PAPER COMPANY or the $10 million road for ST. JOE PAPER COMPANY or teh $450 million stadium for a privately owned sports team!!! No way can he do THAT!!! Better the State should lay off child abuse workers, foster care workers, hospice worker, reduce nursing home staff, eliminate nursing home inspectors, and reduce parole officers! BUT NO DON'T "HURT" the FOR PROFIT CORPORATIONS!!!!

What planet is this man living on? Or has all his time in the tanning booth fried his brain????????

Remember in November.

come on now, you know charlie doesn't use a tanning booth -- it's his native skin!

Actually 3:30 p.m.,

My real solution would have been to do exacttly what the state did 9 years ago under Jeb. I would have raped the FRS surplus by reducing the rate that FRS employers paid. I would have cut the rate from about 9% to about 7%. This would have wiped out the cuts for public education and softened the cuts to all of the rest of state government.

Could the state afford it? Yes, there is 3 times the surplus today as there was in 1999 when Jeb cut the FRS rate.

See the following link:
http://www.sbafla.com/pdf/investment/FRS_FACT_SHEET.PDF

Legislative staff told me that the "fact sheet" was not accurate. I told them to tell the SBA to remove their lies and propaganda if it really wasn't true. The link is still active.

The "fact sheet" claims that the Florida Retirement System has the largest surplus of any state system in the country. It claims that the surplus is $9.1 billion. It is important to note that no one (no employee, taxpayer, etc.) is entitled to the surplus money. Saving it during these tough times is criminal.

If you want to stimulate the economy, you spend money. You don't save it in a trust fund that will NEVER acrue a benefit to ANYONE.

10:10 - actually the rates employers pay into the FRS fund are changed each year and are based on actuarial research... so when the rates were cut from 9 to 7 percent, it was because the investment were doing good.

While it is one of the top public retirement funds in the nation, it is because it has safeguards against it being raided for anything but benefits and it is required to have a yearly study completed to help the legislative leaders decide what the rates should be for the upcoming fiscal year.

Gotta' keep the FRS safe - it's what is guaranteeing CITIZENS!!!! Yep, when the big ones come and CITIZENS is wiped out it will be the least paid in the nation's retirement fund that rescues them - even if that means that in their retirement years they go without. Talk about public service!!!

Didn't Charlie already say during session that he would not do any vetoes this year? That may not be exactly right, but it caused a big stir because it was a pretty definite statement, for him, and at the time, the budget hadn't passed yet.