Senate Launches Intensive Budget Review Website

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2013
CONTACT: Katie Betta, (850) 339-7087
Britton Alexander, (850) 487-5229

SENATE LAUNCHES INTENSIVE BUDGET REVIEW WEBSITE
One Stop Shop for Intensive Budget Review Documents

Tallahassee — Senate President Don Gaetz (R-Niceville) and Senator Joe Negron (R-Stuart), Chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, today announced the creation of a new portion of the Senate website. The new site consolidates documents and information regarding the Senate’s ongoing intensive review of the base budget, including performance evaluations for local funding initiatives. Access the new webpage here: http://www.flsenate.gov/Topics/IntensiveBudgetReview/.

“The budget is the only piece of legislation we are constitutionally required to pass each year and as such it should accurately reflect the values and needs of our state as they stand in 2013, not as they stood five, 10 or 15 years ago when the resources and obligations of our state were to some degree vastly different then they are today,” said Senator Gaetz. “The Intensive Budget Review led by Chairman Negron will enable us to clear some of the underbrush and make sure that we have a better understanding of what is in the budget, why it was originally put there, and most importantly – is the product or service being purchased a good value and a good return on investment for today’s taxpayer.”

“Year after year we continue to fund certain recurring local funding initiatives,” said Chair Negron. “Our intensive budget review provides the opportunity to look at performance evaluations associated with this funding to make sure we are getting a good return based on the realities of today’s economy.”

The Senate’s intensive budget review began during the committee week of Dec. 3, 2012, and continued with Appropriations Subcommittee meetings during the week of Jan. 14, 2013, and on January 23. The subcommittees will use the remaining Committee Weeks of Feb. 4, Feb. 11 and Feb. 18 to complete the following components of the review.

Provide an overview of the state agencies under their jurisdiction and review of base budget information.
Review the Governor’s Recommended Budget.
Review agencies’ Legislative Budget Requests, including requests for new funding and recommendations for budget reductions.
Seek testimony from state agencies on performance evaluations conducted on all recurring local funding initiatives.

For more information, please visit: http://www.flsenate.gov/Topics/IntensiveBudgetReview/.

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