Even before the start of the 2008 Legislative Session, which begins March 4, the Governor and the legislature have been working to address the state's revenue shortfall. For only the second time in three decades, the state budget will be smaller this year than last. In addition to the $1.2 billion legislators cut from the 2007-08 budget during Special Session C, House and Senate leaders agreed on another $542 million in cuts to the current budget this week. That proposal is expected to pass in the early days of session. Setting the budget for FY 08-09 will be no easy task as legislators must cut another $1 billion. (see Schools and Health are Big Losers in Recent Round of Cuts brief in Legislative Watch section)

March Forth for Child Care and Head Start

Partner organizations around the country will "March Forth" on Tuesday, March 4, in support of child care and Head Start. The Bush administration's proposed FY 2009 budget would continue a pattern of freezes or cuts to child care and Head Start. Under the proposed budget, 200,000 low-income children and their families would lose child care assistance, and 13,000 children would lose Head Start. Learn more.

FCSC Urges CMS to Rescind Rule Changes for Case Management

In response to rule changes made by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in December, the Florida Children's Services Council issued a letter to CMS urging them to rescind their "interim final" rule and clarify the definition of Medicaid case management. The CMS interim final rules would severely restrict Medicaid coverage of case management, and shut down most federal Medicaid reimbursement for most case management programs as of March 3, 2008. The nationwide consequences for disabled and frail Medicaid recipients could be severe. Thanks to the FCSC Revenue Maximization Workgroup for crafting the CMS letter. Read the letter.

TBRC Committee Votes to Eliminate School Property Tax

The Taxation and Budget Reform Commission's (TBRC) Finance and Taxation Committee approved a proposal that may potentially create a $4 billion hole in the state budget. The proposal would eliminate the portion of property taxes used to pay for schools ($8 billion) and raise the state sales tax by a penny, which would recoup an estimated $4 billion. It also requires the legislature to review sales tax exemptions to help fill the gap, which Commissioners acknowledged would not fully replace lost revenues. Commissioner MacKay's sales tax on services was stripped from the proposal. See proposal CP0050.

TBRC Approves Statutory Recommendation to Streamline Sales Tax

A proposal approved by the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission recommends that the Legislature revise Florida's tax code to include common definitions set by a group of states interested in capturing taxes for Internet and mail order sales. The commission's proposal and a similar bill (SB 962) by Sen. Steve Geller (D-Broward) would conform Florida's tax code definitions to those adopted so far by 22 other states as part of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement. See proposal.

House Steps Up SBA Inquiry

House Speaker Marco Rubioannounced plans to step up the investigation into problems with the Local Government Investment Pool. Rubio named Miami firm Tew Cardenas to assist with the investigation. The House hired Wall Street asset management expert Tanya Styblo Beder to examine the operations of the pool and ensure there are statutory measures in place to prevent future problems. Auditors overseeing the review tapped auditing firm Clifton Gunderson and the law firm Berger Singerman to conduct its investigation.