Some of this might sound familiar. In Florida, the governor and Legislature slashed taxes by $6 billion, and then turned on each other during a bitter fight to make up $4 billion in budget red ink last spring. Florida has not seen anything like the spending twister that has torn the Golden State apart, but the Sunshine State has two budget busters to deal with. These are costly constitutional amendments to reduce class sizes and build a bullet train.
Here is a rudimentary comparison to consider: Take California's current $8 billion deficit and consider, for argument's sake, what happens if another $4 billion deficit greets Florida lawmakers next year. Divide each state's deficit by its population, and Californians have a smaller per-person budget obligation ($218) than Floridians ($240).
California is a bellwether state, a place where trends start, then move across the country. The Sunshine State better stand guard so that it avoids the Golden State's fiscal bad habits. "Floridians Can't Risk Smugness".
The decision to invest $180 million in Edison Schools, a failed private-school company, is a double stinker. The politics smells and, more to the point, so does the bottom line.
Nearly half of the state employees the pension fund covers are teachers, who obviously object to an investment of their money in a company whose fortunes improve if continued inadequate financing erodes the success of public schools. . . . That's the politics. The business side is worse. Liberty Partners Inc. of New York invests up to $1.8 billion of the pension fund's assets. It bought Edison Schools, a financial shipwreck. The company, run by Chris Whittle, was supposed to revolutionize education by contracting to run public schools. Instead of providing better results at lower cost, Edison was fired last year by at least 17 school districts. According to United Press International, the company has lost $350 million, or 90 percent of its value, over the past 20 months.
Gov. Bush and the other trustees, Attorney General Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, say they won't interfere with the deal, which will be final next month if Edison stockholders approve. The Enron debacle of two years ago should be a lesson. . . . In any case, it's hard to claim that the pension fund has no political dimension. The administrator is Coleman Stipanovich, brother of lobbyist and former Jeb Bush staffer John "Mac" Stipanovich. "Edison Schools buyout links Florida to a loser".
"A CORPORATE MODEL" CITIZEN RESIGNS -Education Commissioner Jim Horne's top aide has resigned his $150,000-a-year job and will leave the beleaguered department next month. . . . Several Capitol sources said privately that Horne angered both the board and Bush's top staff by giving Wood a $42,000 raise last year without informing them. The 40 percent raise came in a year when typical state workers were getting 2.5 percent increases. Although Bush's "Service First" civil service plan was supposed to provide more accountability by tying an employee's raise to performance, Wood's raise was not accompanied by a performance review. An undated e-mail to the department's personnel office, placed in Wood's personnel file, explained his raise this way: "Due to internal pay relationships, Mr. Wood's salary is being adjusted to $12,500 monthly." Wood has said he received the raise because Horne wanted to restructure the department under "a corporate model."
INSANITY -As many as 7,000 Department of Children & Families workers who handle applications for food stamps, Medicaid, welfare and other benefits would either become private sector workers or be out of work under a plan being explored by the agency, a newspaper reported. "Report: Possible DCF move may shift 7,000 jobs to private sector".
GRAHAM - U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said Wednesday that he expects Sen. Bob Graham to re-enter the U.S. Senate race within a week. "Graham urged to run again". However,
Despite intense pressure from the highest levels of the Democratic Party to run for reelection, Sen. Bob Graham remains undecided about whether he is interested in returning to Washington for a fourth term, friends and advisors said Wednesday. "Senator undecided about future move". See also "Graham weighs options for next political move".