OUR VIEW: Assessing Florida’s slimmed-down budget

Gulf Coast State College construct STEM building to replace building $2 million

bay county wastewater facilities nearly a million michael

pc millville wastewater treatment plant 500K

pc wastewater treatment plantmillvile relocation assessment $500k

tuition and fee revenue loss due to hurricne $739K

By Florida standards, it was a flush annual spending allowance, reflective of an encouraging trend among a new generation of pragmatic Republicans who realize that not all government spending is inherently wasteful. And two cornerstones of this emerging philosophy — a $500 million lift for public school teachers’ salaries and a $625 million investment in water quality projects— survived Gov. Ron DeSantis’ billion-dollar belt tightening this week.

More than half of the cutbacks, he said, consisted of budget items he had personally championed.

But the pain is real, and disappointing, particularly for Gulf Coast State College which saw DeSantis just say no to $2 million for a STEM building axed and nearly $740,000 to help cover tuitiion and fee losses due to Hurricane Michael. And Panama City said goodbye to $500,000 for an assessment on moving it’s Millville wastewater treatment plant and another $600,000 toward the removal and relocation of a sanitary sewer line in St. Andrew Bay.

No matter how skillfully DeSantis may have wielded this scalpel, the fact remains that the more democratic approach to pandemic-imposed cuts would have been to convene the full Legislature, and let Floridians’ local representatives have a say. The deployment of some $4.6 billion in federal CARES Act stimulus funds without these lawmakers’ input is a clear overreach on the governor’s part.

“We should be doing this work in an open, transparent and bipartisan way,” said Rep. Ben Diamond of St. Petersburg, a Democratic member of the House Appropriations Committee.

Particularly deserving of a public airing is the question of whether our state should sock away additional dollars to swell an existing $6 billion reserve account, or unleash federal stimulus money for an immediate boost to Florida’s economy. DeSantis drew his own conclusions, choosing to bow to the possibilities of rainier days to come.

It’s a defensible position. But he should be required to defend it, repeatedly, as inevitable COVID-19 damages unfold.

The $92.2 billion spending plan that remains, still robust under the circumstances, has some bright spots.

It’s heartening to think that all the attention that this vicious virus has focused on our residents in elder care facilities could have had a beneficial effect. DeSantis retained a badly needed $105 million increase in Medicaid reimbursements for nursing homes — ending a Draconian rate freeze that has been imposed since 2009.

This budget makes good on another commitment to incapacitated elders, with a generous $8.7 million to amplify watchdog capabilities at the Office of Public and Professional Guardianship.

With some $800,000 in initial funding, the watchdog had eyes but no teeth. This is a small but precious victory for Floridians who cannot speak for themselves.

The Herald-Tribune Editorial Board