11/11/2004
Monumentally bad budgeting
The mark of a truly bad legislative session is that after it ends, you still don't know all the things it did wrong. The hits just keep on coming. Last year's sessions were monumentally bad. And, sure enough, we're still finding out how bad.
The St. Pete Times editorial page notes the handiwork of Monumental egos:
The state will spend $30-million this year to build an Alzheimer's research center named after Byrd's father, a biomedical research center named after King's parents, and a chiropractic school at a university that never asked for it. But there's more. The law directs the state's chief finance officer to write checks directly to those centers in future years - bypassing future Legislatures.
Not only is this venial and arrogant, it's unconstitutional.
As Lucy Morgan reports:
"It's not constitutional," former university chancellor E.T. York said Monday. A legal battle over the law would be the first attempt to have the courts clarify the Board of Governors' authority over the creation of new programs in higher education. The constitutional amendment creating the board won overwhelming support from voters, but York said the board has been ignored by Gov. Jeb Bush and state lawmakers.
The governor has asked for repeal. We'll see.
The St. Pete Times editorial page notes the handiwork of Monumental egos:
The state will spend $30-million this year to build an Alzheimer's research center named after Byrd's father, a biomedical research center named after King's parents, and a chiropractic school at a university that never asked for it. But there's more. The law directs the state's chief finance officer to write checks directly to those centers in future years - bypassing future Legislatures.
Not only is this venial and arrogant, it's unconstitutional.
As Lucy Morgan reports:
"It's not constitutional," former university chancellor E.T. York said Monday. A legal battle over the law would be the first attempt to have the courts clarify the Board of Governors' authority over the creation of new programs in higher education. The constitutional amendment creating the board won overwhelming support from voters, but York said the board has been ignored by Gov. Jeb Bush and state lawmakers.
The governor has asked for repeal. We'll see.
