Florida Governor Unveils Budget Proposal

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ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.

MELISSA BLOCK, host:

And I'm Melissa Block.

Now to the latest from one of many cash-strapped states. In Florida today, the new Republican governor unveiled his budget with a call for big cuts in spending - $5 billion worth.

Governor Rick Scott proposed eliminating some state agencies and making significant changes to the state's pension system. These are issues he campaigned on, and he opted to make his speech in the rural town of Eustis, Florida, as NPR's Greg Allen reports.

GREG ALLEN: Traditionally, governors in Florida make their budget addresses in Tallahassee, before the capitol press corps and just steps from the place where the budget is actually written - the House and Senate chambers in the state legislature. In choosing a small community in the center of the state, Scott found a location well away from lobbyists and special interests, and there's another reason he was in Eustis today. It's in the heart of Florida's Tea Party country.

Royal Brown, from Winter Haven, Florida, was one of several hundred Tea Party members invited by the governor to attend the budget address.

Mr. ROYAL BROWN: We don't want to see Florida become a bankrupt state like California and Illinois and some of the others.

ALLEN: Those two states have among the nation's largest budget deficits, but they're not actually bankrupt. Governor Scott's speech today was at the same time an official state function and the largest Tea Party rally held in Florida since the election.

Abner Orick(ph), a snowbird from Ohio wintering in Palm Shores, called it a smart political move.

Mr. ABNER ORICK: He's out with what I call the common folks. And when these folks leave here, they're going to go back, and every time somebody says negative about him, they're going to defend him.

ALLEN: Rick Scott didn't run for governor as a Tea Party candidate. He's a millionaire businessman who spent more than $70 million of his own money getting elected, but he shares many ideas with the Tea Party, such as cutting taxes and shrinking the size of government. Scott told the audience in Eustis: Going through Florida's budget is like rummaging in an attic.

Governor RICK SCOTT (Republican, Florida): You come across some priceless things you need to protect, but there are a lot of odd things that you wonder about, that someone once thought we needed. Much of it, we've outgrown, and it just doesn't fit anymore. So after - over the last three months, I've basically - I've spent a lot of time in that attic, and we're cleaning it out. We're getting rid of it.

(Soundbite of applause)

ALLEN: With several hundred ardent Tea Party supporters, many on their feet throughout the address, Scott's speech felt more like a political rally than a budget address.

(Soundbite of applause)

Gov. Scott: It's a budget that's designed to reduce state spending, lower taxes and hold your government accountable. This is the budget you asked for.

(Soundbite of applause)

ALLEN: At a time when Florida is some $3 billion in the red and looking for cuts, Scott proposes going further, closing the budget gap and cutting taxes by an additional $2 billion. Much of the savings, some $2 billion a year, comes from revamping the state Medicaid program, something likely to require federal approval. Scott says he'll cut another billion by renegotiating contracts and leases and eliminating government programs and entire agencies.

Daniel Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida, says Scott will likely find allies among the fiscal conservatives in the Republican-controlled state legislature.

Professor DANIEL SMITH (Political Science, University of Florida): At the same time, they have very different constituents than the statewide constituency of the governor and will have various individuals and groups concerned about the types of cuts that are coming down the pike. So it's going to be very difficult for Republican leaders in the House and the Senate to fall in line with the cuts being proposed by the governor.

ALLEN: Perhaps no proposal will face stiffer resistance than one involving pensions for the state's teachers and other public employees. Florida is the only state in the nation where public employees are not required to contribute toward their pensions. Scott wants workers to ante up 5 percent a year. Unions representing a million Florida public employees say after years with no raises, that amounts to a 5 percent pay cut, and it's something they're going to fight.

Greg Allen, NPR News, Eustis, Florida.

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