Week Ahead In Florida Government

March 14, 2011

Here’s a look at some of the big issues in Florida government this week:

DOLLARS AND CENTS
While there are several big policy issues making their way through the Legislature, for budget watchers Friday is the big day of the coming week. The Revenue Estimating Conference on Friday will give lawmakers the latest look at the amount of money expected to be coming in, which gives them an amount to work with when writing the budget. Generally, the expectation is that there won’t be too much change from the $3.6 billion shortfall economists projected a few months ago.

MERIT PAY
The proposal to shift the way teachers are paid to a merit-based system depending in part on how well students do on tests is on the House floor on Tuesday. The bill, which would put an end to tenure pay systems for new teachers, is one of the most controversial before lawmakers, but has wide support among controlling Republicans and is expected to pass. Teachers generally don’t like it, and the state teachers union opposes it. A Senate version of the bill (SB 736) has already passed the Senate, and the House version is expected to largely conform to that, meaning the bill could be one of the first to go to Gov. Rick Scott this year.

MEDICAID OVERHAUL
The House also begins the serious work of revamping the Medicaid system, shifting patients into privately-run managed care plans. The proposal, which has been discussed for several years, is in two proposed committee bills rolled out last weekend and those two measures will be workshopped in the House HHS Committee on Monday.

CENSUS FIGURES OUT THIS WEEK
Lawmakers and others champing at the bit to begin redrawing political boundaries can get started this week as the U.S. Census Bureau is scheduled to release population data for Florida as part of its national rollout that is by law to be completed by April 1. Population and demographic data will be released for Florida, Georgia and a handful of other states sometime this week, the bureau announced Thursday. Census takers are going to give state lawmakers a 24 hour head start before releasing the figures to the public, under a protocol federal officials say is meant to ensure the accuracy of the data.

By The News Service Florida

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News