Pushing Uphill
By Gulf Coast Business Review – Thursday, March 18, 2010
Gulf Coast Business Review - Pushing Uphill
Economic development, insurance, education reform, renewable energy and health issues are just some of the priorities Gulf Coast legislators are focused on this legislative session in Tallahassee.
Then there’s the little matter of the state budget with a $3.2 billion gap to fill that has House and Senate appropriations committees combing through the budget line by line to eek out savings.
“It’s not pretty; it’s painful, very painful,” House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, told a Florida hospitals group visiting the capital March 8. Cretul has instructed committees to set aside non-mandated line items temporarily, to prioritize the top 10-15 items, and identify 10-15 other line items to put “at the bottom of the silo.”
As Cretul spoke to the hospitals group, a hearing about Medicaid was being held at the Capitol. If there’s an elephant in the budget committee room, it has to be Medicaid.
Currently, due to the economy, Medicaid expenses have risen to 28% of the state budget, according to Rep. Matt Hudson, R-Naples, who serves on three health care-related committees including health care appropriations. “We have an enormous challenge with that program. After the economic downturn, and a million more [eligible recipients], it’s getting worse,” says Hudson.
It’s projected that in 10 years, 36% of the budget could be consumed by Medicaid. “That kind of growth rate could bankrupt the state of Florida,” says Cretul.
Then there’s the matter of the federal stimulus “flameout,” meaning fewer dollars coming down from Washington. “A billion of Medicaid funding could disappear in the middle of the budget year,” says Cretul. He adds that it’s become unaffordable at the state level and that the federal government is looking to increase eligibility for Medicaid and pass on more of the costs to states.
It’s in this ever constricting budget and economic environment that legislators are working.
We asked a select group of Gulf Coast legislators to first reveal legislation that they are sponsoring that will most help businesses or create jobs. Secondly, we asked them what other bills are important to them to see passed.
Sen. Victor Crist
He may be running for a seat on the Hillsborough County Commission, but Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, remains focused on his legislative work, wanting much to get done in his final session.
He was elected to the House in 1992, serving eight years before being elected to the Senate in 2000.
For someone whose bills center more around justice issues — he’s chairman of the criminal and civil justice appropriations committee and sits on the criminal justice committee — the advertising executive also pays attention to business, tax and health care matters.
Crist says he’s pleased that the unemployment compensation tax increase, previously scheduled to kick-in next month, has been deferred for two years to give businesses more time to regroup — and keep more employees on the payroll.
“We worked through the process quickly to provide the relief that businesses need. That would be at the top of the list,” he says about his priorities this session.
Crist, whose day job is president of Metropolitan Communications in Tampa, is sensitive to tax matters for their impact on businesses bottom lines. He worked to turnaround the services tax after it had been adopted in 1997 and was costing his company business. Ultimately, voters repealed the tax following a firestorm of statewide protest.
“We’re trying to create a viable workforce with education allowing for the retooling of people so they can evolve as the jobs and needs evolve. We’re going to put sizable investment in infrastructure while cost of investment is down —roads, utilities, stormwater — things we can do now to keep businesses operational.”
Credit card fraud is another focus of Crist. He’s sponsoring Senate Bill 1106. “We’re enhancing the penalties on an individual who possesses and uses a stolen credit card. It’s a growing epidemic.”
Mental health parody, that is, requiring insurance carriers to provide the comparable coverage for mental health as physical health, is another concern of his. Crist says its one of those things that gets more expensive to treat later.
His Medicaid buy-in bill for the developmentally disabled allows the employee to go to work, not lose their benefits, but also provides for reimbursing the state. Crist says, “It’s win-win.” The employee doesn’t lose the Medicaid benefit if they lose the job. Instead, the worker keeps the benefit, but pays the state 100% for it over time.
