Miscellaneous

Spring Break or Spring Broke? Budget Cuts Gone Wild in Florida

By Anne Skove, Esq.

While certain demographics head south for spring break, Florida courts are bracing for massive budget cuts over the next few years.

Over the next budget year, cuts will result in the firing of 971 court employees. That's just the beginning!

Recall, too, that Florida recently moved from local to state funding. During that transition, any court program not considered to be an "essential court function" stayed in the local budget.

Florida's legislature, executive branch, and courts in Florida have a checkered history (Bush v. Gore started in the state court, remember, when the First Brother-to-Be was governor of Florida).

Handing the whole outfit over to the most moneyed branch can be a problem, even if you're the best of friends. Everybody wants an earmark, but those can disappear faster than a signature from an Eraser-Mate. Too many court programs (not just in Florida, but across the country) found that out during the tight budgets of the late 90s/early 00s.

To complicate further, Florida has no state income tax. That means the state budget relies on property taxes. Fabulous in good times, but these days about as much fun as a post-Daytona hangover.

See Chief Justice Calls State Budget Cuts "Murder," Marc Caputo, Miami Herald (March 20, 2008).

As for the money problem, maybe Justice Pariente can sell her autograph. She's now an official member of the Florida Women's Hall of Fame! Congrats to one of the rockingest chiefs ever!

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on March 20, 2008 (boomark / email).