By Lindsay Renner- Advertising Editor
As many politicians are wont to do, Rick Scott won the Florida gubernatorial election this past November by promising change and new beginnings for the state. As expected, Scott has delivered on these promises, but not in quite the manner that most people may have expected.
Scott unveiled his initial budget plans to a Tea Party event earlier this month, on Monday, February 7. He proposed a budget of $66 million, a budget down almost $4.6 billion from the previous year’s expenditures. The majority of these cuts will be drawn from the areas of education, the police force, and state fire departments. As expected, the reductions in these areas have drawn much criticism from some around the state, and alternately, high praise from others.
Scott recognized that although cutting so many areas of employment would temporarily add to the state’s already large unemployment levels, it could potentially bear positive consequences down the line. In essence, he hoped that his “job budget” would eventually come to shrink state government and cut nearly $2.4 billion in tax revenue, ultimately improving the state’s economy.
“As long as 1.1 million Floridians are out of work, we can’t afford a government that runs wild with taxes, regulations, and expensive spending,” said Scott.
Critics were quick to note the largest area of budget cuts: education, where the industry will suffer a nearly $4.8 billion loss in the program’s first year. Specifically, in Pasco County Schools, the district estimates that they will be dealt a cut in funding worth $14.5 million. Although the county is due for $32.5 million in stimulus funding, that money is expected to run out sometime next year.
Further, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and the county commissioners have been at odds over the proposed budget cuts for quite some time now. The two have been locked in a $4 million budget dispute, and only recently settled on a level of money much lower than what Sheriff Bob White had initially proposed. White is charged with the task of maintaining a jail and law enforcement agency that has to operate on a budget of $85 million to ostensibly serve and protect a county with a population of over 400,000 people. While this is larger than the budget provided for other areas of the county’s operation, such as libraries, swimming pools, and recreational centers, White maintained that this budget is not enough to support the 28 new deputies necessary to come into the department and keep things running smoothly throughout the county.
The state is in a time of economic turmoil, and Pasco County is not exempt from the ramifications of these changes. Whether Scott’s budget cuts work successfully or not remains to be seen, but it can only be hoped that the state will soon face a resolution to its crisis.
