Florida Senate reduces health care cuts by more than half
Feb 2, 2012
The following article was published in The Florida Current on February 2, 2012:
Senate reduces health care cuts by more than half
By Christine Jordan Sexton
The amount of general revenue reductions the Senate will make to its budget has been cut by more than half.
Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, said Thursday that he anticipates about $390 million in general revenue cuts, a significant reduction from the $850 million figure he has been floating for the past several weeks.
Negron thanked both Senate President Mike Haridopolos and Sen. JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, for “making sure we have the resources in this committee to fund the essential functions of the health and human services budget.”
Negron said he is trying to reach the $390 million figure by eliminating programs and making other reductions to spare nursing homes and hospitals from budget cuts. Some of the programs that he will propose reducing, he said, are adult mental health and substance abuse programs, though emergency-related services will be provided.
He said he doesn’t intend on cutting similar programs for children, even though not all programs perform well.
“I’m not comfortable at this juncture with making reductions to programs that serve children because i care more about children than I do adults,” Negron said.
The plan, he said, is to have the Department of Children and Families adjust payments to mental health and substance abuse providers based on their performance. He said the Budget Subcommittee on Health and Human Service Appropriations staff is working on “proviso” that would accomplish that goal.
Each year the Legislature is required to pass a budget. Prior to the 2012 session Haridopolos indicated that he’d be open to passing the budget during a special session in the spring so legislators could have the most up-to-date data. House Speaker Dean Cannon, Winter Park, though rejected that notion and moved his chamber ahead on the budget process while the Senate cancelled meetings..
Indeed, the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a $69.2 billion budget bill (APC1) that was filed on Friday.
Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said he planned on making public the budget allocations next week. Meanwhile, Negron said his plan is to unveil his budget proposal on Feb. 8 as well as take public testimony. The committee will meet again on Feb. 9 to take testimony and to move the proposed budget onward to the full Senate Budget Committee.
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