Legislative Update from Kelly Skidmore, State Representative, District 90

Florida is facing some of the toughest economic challenges of any state in the country. During the last two weeks, the state legislature held a special session to address a $2.3 billion budget shortfall caused partly by a precipitous drop in state sales tax revenue.

To make up the deficit, House and Senate Leadership proposed a $700 million raid of the Lawton Chiles Endowment Fund, which is a trust fund that provides health services to children and the elderly, about $500 million in cuts to public schools for K-12 education, a $100 million cut to the State University System, a loss of $170 million from a housing trust fund, higher fines for traffic offenders and an assessment on nursing homes.

I voted against this special session budget because I feel it takes from the people who need it the most, and while I truly believe that the men and women of the Florida Legislature from both the minority and majority parties are gravely concerned about how these decisions affect those in need, we did not roll up our sleeves and go through the department level budgets to find inefficiencies, eliminate duplications, eliminate funding for programs that are not mission critical and reduce administration before we reduce services.

We did not take the time or put in the effort to analyze and evaluate our entire revenue structure. We handcuffed ourselves by stubbornly refusing to admit that the tax policies of the past decade have made it impossible for government to continue to meet the very real needs of the people of this state.

During the upcoming regular session, we still must address an estimated budget deficit of $3.5 billion for the next fiscal year, and I hope we do not fall into the same trap of making simple, short-sighted, across-the-board spending cuts in lieu of very difficult, deliberative and courageous decisions that put our state back on the right track.

As always, I appreciate the opportunity to be of service to you. Please do not hesitate to contact me or my staff if you have any questions or concerns. Our district office number is (561) 470-6593.

*********************************************************************************************************
Boca Raton Computer Society Monthly Meeting: Wednesday January 21, 2009, 7:30 P.M. at South County Civic Center, Jog Road, opposite Morikami Gardens.

Featured Speaker: Gene Barlow. Topic: "Backing Up Your Hard Drive Using Acronis True Image!"

Special Interest Group sessions on Internet, MS Vista and Paint Shop Pro begin at 6:15 P.M.
There is no charge. The public is welcome.

> Discuss this entry