Radio segment, story by Kerry Sheridan in includes “…Corcoran had previously said that emergency relief cash would not be an acceptable solution. ‘If there is a thought to solving this recurring financial issue by using one-time stabilization funds, I strongly encourage you to remember that fixing a long-term problem by using a short-term resolution will not get the district on solid ground,’ Corcoran wrote in a letter to the school board dated April 22.”
By Roger Russell, includes “Florida, one of the last two holdout states to enact economic nexus legislation in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision on taxing online sales, has finally passed a bill that applies sales tax collection requirements to remote sellers and marketplace facilitators.”
By Isaac Morgan, includes “With just a few days left in the 2021 legislative session and COVID-19 still infecting and killing Floridians, the Legislature will not fully utilize federal coronavirus relief funds from the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan. About $3.5 billion will be used to bolster the state’s reserves rather than provide programs and initiatives to help Floridians …”
By Greg Fox, includes “The future of Florida's massive pension system for state and local government workers is now on the line. The Florida Senate passed a measure that would strip pensions for new hires beginning next year.”
By Mary Ellen Klas, Kirby Wilson and Lawrence Mower, includes “After a decade of honing their skills as budget cutters, Florida’s Republican legislative leaders are having a hard time deciding how to spend.”
The Florida state Senate has passed a bill that would eliminate the option for nearly all new state employees to participate in a defined benefit (DB) plan, instead requiring them to join a defined contribution (DC) plan.
By Dylan Lyons, includes “Florida teachers and K-12 support staff are fighting to save their pension. They believe Senate Bill 84 will cause them to lose something they were promised, their defined benefits pension. Instead, new employees would have to enroll in a 401(k) style retirement plan. ‘Part of us going into teaching is not about the money. It is about kids.’ …”
Includes “… The legislation modernizes the Florida Retirement System (FRS) by closing the pension plan (defined benefit) to new enrollees … ‘We have seen examples in other states of how quickly conditions can change and a government can experience financial crisis under the weight of its future retirement obligations.”
By James Call, includes “Sen. Ray Rodrigues introduced a state pension reform to the Senate floor Wednesday that public sector labor unions and retirees warn will jeopardize the retirement fund for more than a million workers. The bill (SB 84) prohibits most new hires from joining the Florida Retirement System's traditional pension, or ‘defined benefits,’ plan. …”
One-hour video of city commission meeting, looks like local citizens took social distancing seriously (see opening of video).
By Richard Vedder, includes “I think the best single indicators of the overall quality of life of a state are statistics on net migration. … I looked at the 10 states with the highest level of collegiate attainment—every one of them gave their electoral college votes to Joe Biden. By contrast, nine of the 10 states with the lowest level of collegiate attainment gave their electoral votes to Donald Trump..”
By Gray Rohrer, includes “With Florida’s economy still reeling from the downturn brought by the coronavirus crisis, Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a $96.6 billion budget proposal Thursday that’s $4.3 billion more than this year, thanks largely to federal spending on the pandemic. A surge in Medicaid enrollment as more workers were laid off and pushed out of employer plans led to a projected $3 billion increase in Medicaid spending …”
Impeachment is easy. Governing is hard. That may be the lesson Democrats on Capitol Hill are about to learn as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office. … But the plan also includes a $350 billion bailout of state and local governments, many of them poorly governed and chronically in debt
Back room deals in Washington, DC always die and come back to life, over and over, again. And, even though a "COVID-shutdown rescue package" seems like a no brainer, it's been caught up in politics for months.
The 2020 Financial State of the States report surveys the fiscal health of the 50 states prior to the coronavirus pandemic. This data is released today by Truth in Accounting (TIA), a think tank that analyzes government financial reporting.
After negotiations stalled before Congress packed up for its August recess, Washington is now ready to resume discussing the terms for the nation’s next coronavirus relief package.
For the past two years, a citizen activist and veteran CPA has consistently criticized Manatee County for holding what he said was a level of reserves that were not only unnecessarily high but put the county in non-compliance with state limits.
Long before the coronavirus hit the United States, cash-strapped public higher education systems looked to private donors to offset the steady decline in public funding, sometimes with significant secrecy and strings attached.
Everything is bigger in Texas—including the supersized salaries of its city managers, school superintendents, state staffers, and other public servants.
How large could the shortfall in state government general revenues be, amidst the coronavirus and related crises?