Last week, Gov. Rick Scott announced that he will sue the federal government over the Low Income Pool program that is set to expire in June.
State Sen. Don Gaetz said a lawsuit will not solve the $2 billion shortfall in the state budget because of the LIP funds going away.
“The governor has filed a lawsuit, and that will go through the courts and go to the Supreme Court and go on for months and years, but back here on earth, we still have to have a balanced budget,” said Gaetz. “We still have to make sure that teachers get paid and that roads get paved and that bad guys get put in jail and that the lights stay on.”
He said, “All of that is good theater, but it doesn’t solve the problem that we’re facing right now, and that’s working out a budget that we can balance, including tax cuts and other things to make sure the state of Florida continues to go further and faster.”
He said that the lawsuit doesn’t have any effect on the budget whether the governor’s lawsuit is successful or unsuccessful. “First, we won’t probably know that for months or years, and in the meantime, over the next few weeks, we’re going to have to balance the budget. Issues that are important to northwest Florida, tax cuts and funding for our universities and schools and transportation and criminal justice and environment, are all still pending, and they won’t get solved by this lawsuit.”