Senate President Office — Press Release

Senate Committee on Budget Unanimously Passes Proposed 2012-2013 General Appropriations Acts

Senate GAA Encourages Economic Development, Promotes Job Creation & Dedicates Funding to K-12 Education, Now Heads to Senate Floor

Tallahassee — Today, the Senate Committee on Budget, by a unanimous, bipartisan vote, passed the proposed Fiscal Year 2012-2013 General Appropriations Act (GAA). The Senate’s version of the budget focuses on three key areas—encouraging economic development, promoting job creation in Florida, and dedicating more than a $1 billion in funding for K-12 education.

“From day one, the Florida Senate has been committed to passing a balanced budget without raising taxes on hardworking Floridians, while fostering a business friendly climate that offers predictability and stability to our state’s business owners and entrepreneurs,” said Senate President Mike Haridopolos (R-Merritt Island). “This budget clearly meets those goals and keeps those promises, but even goes a step farther by ensuring that we direct revenue to areas of the budget that will be most effective in promoting economic development and creating jobs.”

“On top of promoting economic development and job creation, we showed our commitment to education by providing more than $1 billion in funding to our K-12 Education system,” said Senate President Haridopolos. “This budget is a true reflection of Chairman Alexander’s experience and his commitment to maximizing every penny in our budget.”

“We were truly innovative when crafting this budget as we ensured that we funded every critical need of our state, while at the same time encouraging economic development projects and promoting job creation with the limited resources that our state currently has,” said Senator JD Alexander (R-Lakeland), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Budget. “We directed revenue toward areas that we knew would restore jobs to Floridians, like providing additional funding to transportation, fully funding the SEED trust fund, and providing additional general revenue to the Governor in order to give him the flexibility he needs to attract new businesses to Florida.”

The Senate’s recommended budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013 totals $70.7 billion. For more information on the Senate’s proposed budget, please visit the Appropriations page on the Florida Senate website.

Included in the Senate’s General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2012-2013:

Pre K-12 Education

The total budget for Pre-K-12 education is $20.5 billion from all sources (state, local, and federal). The budget includes $9.8 billion from General Revenue, $358.3 million from the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund, $220.1 million from the State School Trust Fund and $2.5 billion from other Trust Funds, largely for federal programs. In addition, $7.6 billion of local funds are included for the FEFP.

Highlights in the Pre K-12 Education budget include:

• Priority given to preserving the core delivery systems, which include Voluntary Prekindergarten Education and School Readiness, the FEFP for public schools, and the Florida School for the deaf and Blind.
• $413.1 million is provided for the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education program, including workload funding of $28.5 million for an additional 11,520 FTE, and $10.3 million for an additional 4,111 TE students in the current year. Also, the base student allocation remains unchanged at $2,383 for the regular school year and $2,026 for the summer program.
• $581.5 million is provided for the School Readiness Program, and the conforming bill initiates significant changes which will:
  • Increase services to zero to five year old children;
  • Increase the number of children served by reducing non-direct services and increasing efficiency;
  • Reduce fraud;
  • Require pre and post testing of all children served; and
  • Standardize payment rates.
• $1.179 billion state funds are provided for the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) for K-12 public schools. This funding is used to:
  • Replace $224 million of nonrecurring funds;
  • Educate an additional 31,504 students for $201.2 million;
  • Offset $239.7 million in reduced ad valorem revenues;
  • Pay for $99.3 million in additional Florida Retirement System costs; and
  • Enhance educational services in the amount of $415.6 million.

Higher Education

The Senate Higher Education budget totals $6.7 billion which is a 2.2% decrease from the 2011-12 budget. This budget includes a $411.5 million decrease in general revenue funds and a $10.9 million decrease in the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund.

Highlights in the Higher Education Budget include:

• The budget for workforce education is $541.3 million. This is an increase of $1.5 million or .3%.
• The budget for the Florida College system is $2 billion. This is an increase of $45.1 million or 2.3%. The Senate budget provides for operating costs of new facility space and for the continuation of the 2+2 partnership incentive.
• The budget for the State University System is $3.3 billion. This is an overall decrease of $171.3 million or 4.9%.These funds anticipate total tuition revenue growth of $224 million. The budget includes a nonrecurring general revenue reduction of $400 million, which will be restored in 2013-14. Universities will use a portion of their $859 million fund balance to maintain full operations. The budget also provides $8.4 million for the operating costs of new facilities space, $3.3 million for the National High Magnetic Field Lab at FSU, $2.5 million for the Degree Completion Pilot Program coordinated by the University of West Florida, and $13.2 million for Outcome Based Performance Funding.
• The budget for the Board of Governors is $6 million, an increase of 5%.

Education Fixed Capital Outlay

The total budget for education fixed capital outlay is $1.5 billion, including debt service on prior bonding.

Highlights in the Education Fixed Capital Outlay Budget include:

• $250 million to complete previously authorized capital outlay projects. This cover projects with available nonrecurring cash instead of bond proceeds (the appropriation includes $120 million from General Revenue and $130 million from the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund).
• $60.6 million for Maintenance, Repair and Remodeling, including:
  • $55.2 million for charter schools; and
  • $5.4 million for the Florida College System.
• $22 million for construction projects, including:
  • $7 million for the Florida College System;
  • $1.7 million for the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind;
  • $4.3 million for University Developmental Research Schools; and
  • $9.1 million for other education capital outlay projects.
• $28 million for school district and Florida College System bonded construction projects.
• $1.1 billion for debt service.

Health and Human Services

The Senate Health and Human Services budget totals $30.5 billion which is a 2.1% increase from the 2011-12 budget. This budget includes a $519.6 million increase in general revenue funds and a $121.6 million increase in the trust funds.

Highlights in the Health and Human Services budget include:

• Within the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), funding includes:
  • $304.6 million for Medicaid Workload/Price Level;
  • $4.6 million for Kidcare enrollment growth; and
  • $50 million in LIP funding for clinics’ primary care services.
• Within the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, funding includes:
  • $76.5 million total and $32.3 million in general revenue for Home and Community Based Services Waiver (includes adult day training services in the amount of $15.7 million).
  • Preservation of the Consumer Directed Care Plus Waiver, Behavior Assistant Services, and Tier Funding Caps.
• Within the Department of Children and Family Services, funding includes:
  • $33.7 million for Florida’s Public Assistance Eligibility System;
  • $23.1 million in Adult Mental Health Restoration;
  • $15.7 million in Maintenance Adoption Subsidies Restoration;
  • $12.5 million in Florida Safe Family Network;
  • $9.8 million in Child Protective Investigators;
  • $7 million for Children’s Mental Health Restoration;
  • $5.9 million for Adult Substance Abuse Restoration;
  • $2 million for Healthy Families Restoration;
  • $1.7 million for Marissa Amora Claim;
  • $1.7 million for Violent Sexual Predator Program; and
  • $23.1 million for Adult Community Mental Health Restoration; and
  • $6 million for Adult Substance Abuse Restoration.
• Within the Department of Elder Affairs, funding includes:
  • $30 million Shift from Nursing Home Growth to Nursing Home Diversion Waiver Program; and
  • $1.8 million to expand the PACE program.
• Within the Department of Health, funding includes:
  • Restoring $5.4 million in Healthy Start Funding;
  • $6.9 million for Early Steps IDEA Part C;
  • $5.7 million for Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Medicaid Waiver;
  • $5 million for AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP);
  • $706,250 to restore Child Protection Teams Funding;
  • $5 million for the James and Esther King Biomedical Research Center;
  • $5 million for the Bankhead-Coley Cancer Center;
  • $5 million for the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center;
  • $5 million for the Shands Cancer Hospital;
  • $5 million for the Sylvester Cancer Center at the University of Miami;
  • $3.5 million for the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute;
  • $1 million for Children’s Medical Services Facility in Marion County;
  • $1.5 million for Nitrogen Reduction Strategies;
  • $14.3 million to restore nonrecurring funds; and
  • $18.6 million for maintenance and repairs and FCO projects.
• With the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, funding includes:
  • $.8 million for nursing home replacement equipment; and
  • $1.4 million for Veterans’ Homes Maintenance and Repairs.

Criminal and Civil Justice

The total budget for Criminal and Civil Justice is $4,641.7 billion. The budget includes $3,288.7 billion in General Revenue, $1,352.9 billion in Trust Funds, and 46,601.75 FTEs.

Highlights in the Criminal and Civil Justice budget include:

• $121.7 million and $57.6 million respectively to resolve the State Courts and Clerks of Court current year deficit;
• $10 million to expand the Department of Juvenile Justice’s Redirection Program by 375 slots, which will serve an additional 1,200 youths annually;
• $7.8 million to expand probation prevention and intervention program in Department of Juvenile Justice to offset residential bed reductions;
• $6.2 million for the Department of Corrections in recurring general revenue and redirects $4.2 million in federal funds to increase substance abuse treatment slots for prison inmates and offenders on community supervision;
• $500,000 for the Department of Corrections to expand faith and character-based programs in the prisons and $500,000 in nonrecurring general revenue to provide reentry services to offenders on community supervision;
• $750,000 for the Department of Corrections for the replacement of prison transport vehicles and $300,000 of recurring general revenue for the scheduled replacement of officer body armor;
• $576,000 for the Department of Corrections to increase inmate work squads;
• $1.6 million for the Department of Legal Affairs to restore general revenue fund shifts;
• $2 million for the Department of Legal Affairs for civil legal assistance and other legal aid for elderly or economically disadvantaged Floridians;
• $872,000 for the Department of Law Enforcement to fund additional DNA equipment and staff;
• $4.1 million to the Supreme Court to repair the leaking roof and address other major maintenance issues;
• $650,000 to support appellate court electronic filing;
• $2 million in trust fund authority to the state courts and the clerks of court to address backlog of foreclosure cases;
• $87.2 million for the state courts to address the projected shortfall in trust fund revenue in FY 2012-13;
• $56.2 for the clerks of court to address the projected shortfall in trust fund revenue in FY 2012-13; and
• $3.3 million for rent, utilities, and technology costs for the give Regional Conflict Counsel Offices.

General Government

The total budget for General Government is $4,774.1 million. The budget includes 20,295.5 positions, $441.3 million in General Revenue, and $4,332.7 million in Trust funds.

Highlights in the General Government budget include:

• $20 million for beach restoration;
• $9.5 million for wastewater and stormwater projects;
• $190.3 million for drinking and wastewater construction loan programs;
• $128 million for underground storage tanks cleanup;
• $1.8 million for Florida Agriculture promotion campaign;
• $5.6 million for Citrus Health Response program;
• $.8 million for Farm Share and Food Banks;
• $3 million for the One Stop Business Registration Portal; and
• $.7 million for Personal Injury Protection (PIP) fraud investigators.

Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development

The total budget for Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development is $10.96 billion. The budget includes $174.7 million in General Revenue, $10.7 billion in Trust Funds.

Highlights in the Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development budget include:

• Within the Department of Military Affairs, funding includes:
  • $7.1 million for the Florida Armory Revitalization program; and
  • $2 million for the National Guard Community Service programs.
• Within the Department of Economic Opportunity, funding includes:
  • More than $218 million for economic development programs and operations.
  • $10 million for Space Florida;
  • $30 million for Small Cities Community Developmental Block Grants;
  • $78.1 million for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program grants; and
  • $33.2 million for State Small Business Credit Initiative Program.
• Within the Department of Transportation, funding includes:
  • $43.4 million for grants and aids for the Transportation Disadvantaged;
  • $8 billion for the Transportation Work program;
  • Appropriating the spending authority for $34.7 million for the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority, and $456.9 million for the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authorities.
• Within the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, funding includes:
  • $11.3 million for the Florida Highway Patrol to replace motor vehicles; and
  • $8.6 million for the Florida Highway Patrol SOAR to allow for FHP to fill up to 25 vacant prisons.
• Within the Department of State, funding includes:
  • $21.3 million for State Aid to Libraries Grants; and
  • $5 million for Cultural and Museum Grants.