2014 LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW Philip L. Leary, AICP
pleary@LearyGAC.com www.LearyGAC.com
2014 Legislative Preview Phil Leary, AICP
2014 Session The prelude to the 2014 legis- lative session begins with both the House and Senate
holding interim committee meetings one week a month September through December. For the second consecu- tive year there will be a budget surplus for legislators to work with for the 2014-15 fiscal year. The Governor is recommending $500 million in tax cuts and legislators are advocating building reserves and projects creating an eco- nomic stimulus in order to keep the recession recovery moving forward. 2014 is an election year where all 120 House seats and
20 of the 40 Senate seats will be up for election, in addi- tion to the Governor, Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer and Commissioner of Agriculture all seeking reelection. This will definitely result in many member projects being proposed to the budget, with legislators working to fund local projects to enhance their local campaign efforts. For Fairs, if you have special projects needing funding, work with your respective Representative and Senator to solicit state funding, and now is the time to get started. State economists are projecting a 2013-14 budget sur-
plus of over $849 million dollars, of which over $400 mil- lion is reoccurring revenue. In a revenue estimating con- ference report released in September, economists stated that economic indicators point to a continued recovery from the recession in the state. But Sen. Joe Negron, R- Stuart, who is chairman of the powerful Senate Appropri- ations Committee, said he would like to increase the state's reserve fund from $1 billion to $1.5 billion. And he also told Senators he wants to "redeploy" $300 million to $500 million from current state spending into new priori- ties, possibly including fee reductions or more money in
the rainy-day reserve. Meanwhile, there are pressing agency needs and things members want to do next year. Negron said, for instance, he would like at least $100 mil- lion for the Everglades and other areas affected by Lake Okeechobee, an increase from this year's $70 million clean -up commitment. He said the state attorneys, public defenders and courts
are losing staff to city and county governments, or to the private sector, because of low salaries. Apart from any pay raises for other state employees, Negron said the state will have to find funding for the judicial branch. Only about $397 million of the surplus is new general
revenue, he said. Most of the rest is one-time revenue -- what budget writers call "nonrecurring revenue" -- so it can't be spent on year by operating expenses. Other major issues expected to be hot topics and have
legislation filed include; gambling and destination Casinos, water supply and springs protection, Tort reform, transpor- tation and economic development.
Regular sessions of the Legislature begin on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March and continue for 60 consecutive days, which may be extended by a three-fifths vote of each house. Special sessions may be called by the Governor, or may be convened by joint proclamation of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representa- tives. Special sessions may not exceed 20 days, unless extended by a three-fifths vote of each house.
28
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48