Lawmakers' plan cuts education and borrows from kids' health care fund (from 10Connects.com--Tampa)

Once again, the people on the bottom are the first to absorb the pains associated with the budget cuts. --Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez

Lawmakers' plan cuts education and borrows from kids' health care fund
Posted By: Grayson Kamm Date last updated: 1/12/2009 7:24:34 AM

Tallahassee, Florida -- State cuts will hit kids. Leaders in the legislature have decided to cut education and borrow from a kids' and seniors' health care fund as part of a plan to balance Florida's budget.
After a week of back-and-forth during a special session, lawmakers have put together a budget plan aimed at getting the state out of a $2.4 billion hole.
The budget plan is being delivered to lawmakers today. In it, school funding gets hit. Schools will lose $500 million statewide. That works out to $140 per student. Hospital funding will lose $100 million. The plan also increases speeding fines by $25 and other traffic fines by $10 across the board.
All those cuts and fines will cover about a billion dollars of the $2.4 billion hole. The rest will come from the state's savings accounts -- and it will drain them dramatically.
The plan borrows $700 million from the Lawton Chiles Endowment Fund. That fund was formed with money from a settlement with tobacco companies. It's supposed to be used to pay for health care for poor children and seniors.
Another $400 million will come from the Budget Stabilization Fund -- the state's last-resort savings account. That fund will only have $250 million left in it. $190 million will be taken from a state housing trust fund and more than $300 million will come from other trust funds that haven't been named yet.
This plan was created by Republicans, then hammered out with Democrats. It does not include some big options Democrats had been pushing for, including a dollar-a-pack increase on cigarette taxes.
Along with some other smaller tax increases, the Democrats say their proposal could have meant the cuts to schools would have been smaller. But Governor Charlie Crist and Republicans the Legislature said they weren't willing to raise any taxes.
At least part of this budget battle could go to court. The budget plan raids the Lawton Chiles Endowment Fund, which is supposed to be set aside for health care. The family of the late Governor Chiles says they will sue to stop the state from borrowing money from the fund.
A vote on the budget plan is expected on Wednesday.

U.S. teen: 'I felt like there were no dreams for me' (from CNN)

Powerful story about the impact of immigration raids on the lives of children and their families.
-Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/09/10/citizen.children/index.html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCText