By Jim Turner and Dara Kam ©2024 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Lawmakers could boost spending on the state prison system, but Gov. Ron DeSantis’ requests to increase funding for tourism marketing and economic development weren’t included Wednesday as the Legislature started releasing initial budget proposals.
Committees and subcommittees that oversee various parts of the budget began detailing spending plans, with the Senate and the House expected to release overall proposals Friday. That will be a step toward the House and Senate negotiating a final budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, which will start July 1.
House Speaker Paul Renner, appearing Wednesday before the state university system’s Board of Governors, said a “pretty tight” budget comes as the state moves beyond “never-ending revenues and money coming down from the federal government” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our revenues are growing, but they’re growing at a much slower pace while spending through increased expectations during those years has grown,” Renner said.
DeSantis last month proposed a $114.4 billion budget, down from $119.1 billion in the current fiscal year. While the largest amounts of spending are in areas such as education and health care, DeSantis proposed increases for more specific programs such as the Visit Florida tourism marketing program and the Job Growth Grant Fund, an economic development program.
The governor proposed providing $105 million to Visit Florida and $100 million for the Job Growth Grant Fund. But the Senate Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development Appropriations Committee on Wednesday proposed $80 million for Visit Florida and $75 million for the Job Growth Grant Fund, both matching the amounts in the current year.
The Senate committee would restock DeSantis’ law-enforcement bonus program with $15 million. The program offers $5,000 bonuses to new recruits and to attract veteran officers from other states to move to Florida.
Meanwhile, the Senate is looking to make a major investment in the Department of Corrections.
A Senate plan would steer $100 million annually over the next 30 years, for a total of $3 billion, “to address both long-term construction projects … and the repair of our aging prison infrastructure,” Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Chair Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said.
Bradley called the “massive investment” the “centerpiece” of the Senate’s criminal-justice budget.
Bradley pointed to a recent report by the consulting firm KPMG, which found that the state needed to spend at least $2.2 billion to address “immediate needs” in the prison system.
The proposed money for construction projects, which would go into a newly created trust fund, “really moves the needle” for the prison system, she said.
The embattled corrections agency has grappled for years with chronic staff shortages and ballooning overtime pay. The KPMG report identified problems such as leaking roofs, corroded doors, broken windows and crumbling stucco in prison facilities throughout the state.
The Senate proposal would also establish an oversight committee “to oversee the department’s progress in completing projects,” according to Bradley.
The first year of funding in the three-decade plan would provide money for additional bonds to complete a mental-health facility in Lake County, pay for four new dorms at existing prisons and cover the costs of general maintenance and repair, Bradley said.
Health care and education are the largest parts of each year’s state budget. The new legislative proposals deal with overall spending in those areas, along with a variety of specific programs and projects.
For example, the House would provide $20 million for a revamped New Worlds Reading Initiative, which is designed to deliver books to the homes of children. Another $71 million would go to school-hardening grants, mostly for Jewish day schools.
Also, $13 million would be set aside for transportation stipends to help parents who enroll kindergarten through eighth-grade students in schools different from their assigned public schools.
The stipends would replace the Driving Choice Grant Program, which was created in 2022 to improve transportation access for students who participate in public school choice programs. The new transportation fund would reach a little under 18,000 parents on a first-come, first-served basis, House PreK-12 Appropriations Chair Rep. Josie Tomkow, R-Polk City, said.
Higher-education proposals include $25 million for the Florida Center for Cybersecurity at the University of South Florida and $8 million for the Florida Institute for Governance and Civics at Florida State University to implement an online history program.
Three private historically Black colleges would receive $7.5 million for safety improvements.
During his appearance before the university system board, Renner called the House budget package “conservative,” adding that a “course correction” now would help avoid austerity measures.
But House and Senate members have filed thousands of proposals to spend money on programs and projects, many in their districts.
Senate Agriculture, Environment and General Government Appropriations Chair Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, noted that almost 900 of the proposals were directed toward his committee.
“We didn’t fund that many,” Brodeur said. “If everybody got one or two, that’s pretty good.”
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