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Despite budget constraints, hometown pork still popular with Florida lawmakers

 
State Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, said that the outlook is good for the University of South Florida’s downtown Tampa medical center to receive at least partial funding in next year’s budget.
State Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, said that the outlook is good for the University of South Florida’s downtown Tampa medical center to receive at least partial funding in next year’s budget.
Published April 2, 2015

TALLAHASSEE — Though the Florida Senate unanimously passed its $80.4 billion budget Wednesday — and the House appears unified to approve its own version today — there's plenty of behind-the-scenes wrangling among members when it comes to pet projects.

In fact, despite staring at a potential $1 billion hole in next year's spending plan, lawmakers aren't holding back requests for money that will make them look good back home.

Through March 20, members of the Florida House requested $2.9 billion in hometown projects, even as lawmakers struggled to bridge a gap in the budget caused by the possible end of federal aid for the care of low-income patients.

House members alone made more than 1,000 line-item solicitations for next year, or about nine requests per member at an average per-project cost of $2.8 million.

Projects ranged in size from $42.7 million for the dredging of Port St. Joe, $13 million for the Santa Rosa Courthouse and $1.5 million for the Circus Arts Conservancy in Sarasota.

Tampa Bay-centered pork requests likely to move forward range from $1 million apiece to renovate the Tampa Theatre and for manatee care at Lowry Park Zoo all the way to up to $153 million toward the University of South Florida's medical school and research center in downtown Tampa.

Elsewhere in the bay area, lawmakers are seeking money for such diverse projects as a family study center, an ex-offender re-entry program and even a high-speed ferry in Hillsborough County.

Less than 20 percent of the funds being sought were included in the $76.2 billion budget that the House will vote on today. But that still means $544 million worth of member requests made it into next year's House budget.

Whether the Senate matches the House in the amount its members requested is unclear. Unlike the House, which is under the direction of Appropriations Chairman Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, the Senate doesn't track member requests. But its budget still has plenty of hometown pork.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon, said this year's uncertainty with health care should make it more difficult for members to get funding for their projects.

"It would be irresponsible to allocate too many resources to tax cuts, just like it would be irresponsible to allocate a large amount of resources to lower priority projects," Lee said. "The projects are certainly important back home in the districts of the members, but they have to come after we solve the big problems of the state."

At least one pet project with local impact is inching forward in the Senate. On Wednesday, senators approved an amendment by Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, that inserted $1 million for a route alignment study and project development and environmental study to expand the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line from downtown St. Petersburg to the coast/beach.

Member-requested projects often have more to do with the influence of individual lawmakers than public merit. Unlike other projects that are already in the budget, member projects often haven't been reviewed or vetted by state agencies. They are frequently slipped in during budget negotiations between the House and Senate with little understanding as to who requested the project and whom it would benefit.

This year, in his first year as House appropriations chairman, Corcoran began tracking what members are requesting because, he said, it would help shed more light on an unnecessarily murky process.

He said he especially wants to avoid a repeat of an episode involving former House Speaker Ray Sansom, who added $6 million to the state budget for an airplane hangar that would ultimately benefit a political supporter. Criminal charges were dropped by prosecutors after a judge blocked testimony of a key witness, but the incident still forced Sansom to resign as speaker in 2009.

"We had the stability of the institution threatened because someone wasn't being transparent," Corcoran said. "Why would we ever put ourselves in that position again? If you want to have an airport hangar, fine, make that request … but it's not going to be something that's hidden on a sheet of paper that's buried in a community college budget. It's going to be listed as a project, and it's going to say: airport hangar."

Corcoran keeps the member requests in a black binder in his office. Reviewing it also helps him understand what his colleagues want this year out of the budget — information that only makes his hold on power even stronger.

Although it's too early to tell, Tampa Bay lawmakers say they are confident. Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, said two delegation priorities, the Tampa Theatre renovation and manatee care at Lowry Park Zoo, are included in the House and Senate budgets.

She also said the outlook is good for at least partial funding for USF's huge downtown Tampa medical center. The medical school, cited as the No. 1 priority of the Hillsborough delegation, already has the support of the Board of Governors, giving it more weight.

House Majority Leader Dana Young, R-Tampa, is finding success so far. Her requests for $17 million for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and $15.8 million for the USF Heart Institute are included in both House and Senate budgets. Rep. Kathleen Peters, R-St. Petersburg, has scored with a $12.3 million request for the USF St. Petersburg College of Business and $6 million for the Florida Institute of Oceanography that's in both budgets, as well.

Although he's a Democrat, Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, seems to be doing well. He often sides with Republicans and tells his Democratic colleagues to support the budget so that they can have a seat at the table. He has four requests included in the House and Senate budgets so far, including $240,956 for the restoration of St. Petersburg's Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, $350,000 for an ex-offender re-entry program, $250,000 for a USF family study center, and $100,000 for a program in which victims of crimes can meet their offenders.

But other projects aren't included yet in either budget, such as $4 million for the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts or $2 million for the USF Health Alzheimer's Institute.

Another item, $800,000 for a high-speed ferry in Hillsborough County, drew scorn from Corcoran.

"When local government feels comfortable enough asking for that kind of stuff, then something needs to change up here," Corcoran said.

As for himself and Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, they're getting all that they've asked for.

Corcoran's lone request — $300,000 for a pre-kindergarten education information portal — is in both House and Senate budgets. All three of Crisafulli's requests — $200,000 for the Brevard County Sheriff's Office, $1.5 million for a Brevard County veterans memorial center and $2.5 million for a seawall at a public golf course in Cocoa Beach — are fully funded.

"I was elected by the people of my district to come here and represent them so there are a few things in the budget that I have requested," Crisafulli said last week. "But obviously we have to see if our Senate partners agree with those issues as we move forward."

So far, they do.

Contact Michael Van Sickler at mvansickler@tampabay.com. Follow @mikevansickler.