EDITORIAL: Missed opportunities

Troubling tax break tactics

The problem with the GOP-led Legislature’s tax break tactic is that it is based on nothing more than a hunch that Florida is taxing businesses to death. Fact: Florida, with no personal income tax and low business tax rates, is not an expensive place to do business.

Instead of seeking tax parity and going after Internet sites like eBay and online travel companies that skip collecting taxes on retail sales while Florida retailers hiring local workers do what’s required of them, the Legislature passed tax breaks galore without any proof this will help rev up the economy.

Consider that a Fisher Island private school charging $25,000 in tuition will get a big property tax break — just because. Targeted tax incentives meant to court good-paying jobs in industries like high-tech and alternative energy merit consideration, but the blanket giveaways this year won’t deliver dividends.

Crippled public schools

What cripples Florida in attracting businesses is its struggling public education system — K-12 and colleges and universities. Accountability measures continue to improve quality but funding — despite $1 billion more this year to make up for $1.45 billion in cuts the previous year — continues to play catch-up.

Higher tuition rates and less money for scholarships to attend public colleges and universities also are making it harder for talented low- and middle-income students to enroll — just as Florida seeks more businesses to move here. Talk about lack of long-term vision.

At least the aggressive agenda by charter schools run by for-profit companies didn’t make it through the Legislature this year, but they’ll be back to try to take construction dollars from barebones public-school budgets.

Neglected elderly

Gov. Rick Scott and lawmakers talked a good game, calling for major reforms to improve assisted living facilities in the state. In the end, however, only the Senate was willing to impose serious reforms to help vulnerable ALF residents. But with no willing partners in the House and little leadership from the governor — who swore that this issue was a priority — ALF reform went nowhere this session. Shameful.

Medicaid cuts on fast track

Jackson Health System dodged a bullet from the governor’s original proposal, which sought to cut a quarter billion dollars in Medicaid funding. Instead, the Legislature’s formula trimmed Jackson’s Medicaid allotment by about $47 million, with the ability to recoup about $12 million of that amount and possibly more through expected federal revenue.

But even so, the Legislature forced Florida hospitals to absorb a cut of more than 5 percent in Medicaid funding in a state that already covers far less than what it costs to care for sick, indigent patients.

Most maddening: The Legislature rejected $440 million from the feds to improve Medicaid reimbursement rates to physicians, money designed to encourage more doctors to serve the poor and disabled. This is all politics, designed to show displeasure over the Obama administration’s Affordable Health Act, but it winds up hurting Florida’s neediest.

Environmental treasures

Lawmakers agreed to fast-track the administrative-hearing process of Miami-Dade County’s port-dredging project. This puts unfair pressure on the environmental groups and residents seeking straight answers from government agencies on the PortMiami deep dredge. Such groups now have only 30 days to secure a hearing. The dredge is of utmost economic importance to this region, but legal short cuts threaten to do an injustice to the health of Biscayne Bay and the sea life and recreation it supports.

On the positive front, the Florida Forever program will get $8.4 million to buy environmentally sensitive lands and $30 million will go to Everglades restoration.

This was a session of missed opportunities in the midst of a lingering economic malaise. Again, legislators raided trust funds that are supposed to produce money for affordable housing. And, incredibly, with courts backlogged with foreclosure cases, the Legislature cut $30 million from the clerk of courts budget, guaranteeing more delays.

Still to be resolved: A pension dispute with state workers that the governor says will be appealed in court, but could cost Florida $2 billion if it loses, and the state’s redistricting plan. On Friday, the state Supreme Court tossed out the legislative version of the plan to redistrict the Senate, which means the governor will call the Legislature into a special session this week to fix their mess. Too bad they can’t fix 60 days’ worth of messes.