With COVID-19-related budget cuts looming, Florida should kill budget-busting road projects
Publication: Sun Sentinal

Though the ink is barely dry on the budget that the Florida Legislature approved last month, it’s increasingly apparent that an extreme makeover will be needed to respond to the shutdown of major sectors of the Sunshine State’s economy from the COVID-19 pandemic. Even with billions of dollars in federal aid on the way, and billions in state reserves, cuts in state spending may be unavoidable to make up for billions more in lost tax revenue.

There’s an obvious place to start cutting: M-CORES, the budget-busting proposal to build three roads to nowhere through rural western Florida.

Our state is careening toward a budget crisis. Sales tax accounts for almost 80 percent of Florida’s general revenue, the primary funding source for core services like education and health care. About a fifth of sales tax comes from hospitality and tourism, the areas hit hardest by closures and social distancing. And they are just the leading edge of the economic shockwave that could vaporize billions from tax collections.

The COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress in late March could direct more than $8 billion to Florida, according to an analysis from the budget watchdogs at Florida TaxWatch. But even a check that big from Uncle Sam, combined with the state’s $3.8 billion in reserves, won’t be enough to avoid a looming budget deficit, according to TaxWatch.

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