Florida Republican-Controlled State House of Reprobates Rejects Stimulus Funding

The New York Times
April 28, 2009
Keeping Jobless Rules Intact, Florida Declines Stimulus Money
By GARY FINEOUT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Days from the end of the legislative session, Florida lawmakers have refused to move a bill to expand unemployment eligibility in order to accept $444 million in federal stimulus aid.

While the Republican-controlled Legislature plans to use as much as $5 billion from the stimulus package to balance the budget, lawmakers balked at moving the unemployment insurance bill out of committee.

Senator Anthony C. Hill Sr., Democrat of Jacksonville, conceded that the bill was dead for the annual session, which is supposed to end on Friday, although a budget stalemate may force legislators to extend the session by a few days.

Republican legislators say that they do not want to increase the burden on Florida’s unemployment trust fund when it is running out of money. Some statewide business groups, already bracing for an expected increase in unemployment taxes, also objected to the changes.

“The strings attached to the $444 million are going to potentially make a bad problem worse,” said Representative Adam Hasner, the House majority leader from Boca Raton.

Other Southern Republicans have raised protests about the unemployment benefits, saying that expansion could eventually require them to raise taxes. But Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida said he supported changing the law to draw the extra federal money.

“I think taking it is important,” Mr. Crist said. “I know the people need it, especially those who may be facing unemployment. I wish it would be reviewed again.”

Democrats have accused Republican lawmakers of leaving money on the table.

“The unemployed in Florida are being denied their share of the economic stimulus pie,” said United States Representative Kendrick B. Meek, Democrat of Miami, who accused the Legislature of putting “ideology over the people of Florida in their time of need.”

Florida has been hammered by the recession and the collapse of the real estate market and has an unemployment rate of 9.7 percent. The state is eligible for about $1.5 billion in additional unemployment aid in the stimulus package.

The state’s unemployment trust fund is expected to run out of money in August. State officials plan to ask for a federal loan for the fund, and the Legislature is moving ahead with a bill that would increase unemployment taxes on businesses.

Lawmakers are expected to pass a measure that would allow them to use $700 million in stimulus money to extend unemployment benefits for the rest of the year to 250,000 people whose benefits would otherwise expire. But they have been unwilling to make more changes, like offering benefits to those who left work because of domestic violence or the relocation of a spouse.