Could the State Shutdown?
May 5th, 2015 by flanewsLawmakers have all gone home with multi-billion dollar disagreement hanging over their heads. As Matt Galka tells us, the state is inching closer to the next fiscal year without a budget.
Governor Rick Scott opened May’s Florida cabinet meeting applauding his latest lawsuit against the President.
“It’s wrong for the federal government to coerce us by ending a Low Income Pool for low income families to try to coerce us to expand Obamacare,” said Gov. Rick Scott (R-Florida).
The battle over healthcare money forced lawmakers to adjourn this year’s regular session without a budget.
Florida’s current fiscal plan is good until June 30th. If there’s nothing in place July 1st the state could face a Government shutdown similar to federal one in 2013. Even though the clock is ticking, agency heads aren’t sounding the alarms yet.
“At the very least we’ll fund programs like re-employment assistance which is essential to citizens across the state, but we are looking at what would happen, of course, and being responsible, but I’m pretty confident we’ll have on July 1st the funds we’ll need to keep operating,” said Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Jess Panuccio.
Ash Williams was with the State Board of Administration in 1992; the last time Florida was this close to not having a budget.
“There’s a focus on what are critical services, what cannot be interrupted and how can we make sure we have continuous service, particularly in the realm of public safety and health,” he said.
The Governor says he’s working on a plan for lawmakers.
“I’m looking at special session, I’m looking at a base budget, I’m working on our own base budget because I want to make sure the state continues to operate after June 30th,” he said.
There’s no date for a special session yet, but Florida is still on the clock.
The state budget includes funding for things like hospitals, schools, and transportation. Not having one in place by July 1st could cause some programs to make cuts. The state is also working with a $1.8 billion dollar surplus this year.
Posted in State News | Comments Off on Could the State Shutdown?