It was a tough year for the Florida Legislature. A slowing economy and fewer people moving into the state meant less money in the coffers, and that boiled down to needed cuts.

Unfortunatley, education suffered.  Bay County alone will see a 12 million dollar shortfall. Individual districts can make up some of that money by raising the millage rate. Lawmakers did dip into the state reserves to keep Health Care cuts from hurting residents.

District 6 Rep. Jimmy Patronis says it was a tough year, and he wished there was more that could have been done to avoid the cuts, but the money just wasn’t available. Patronis says raising the sales tax to make up for the shortfall wasn’t the answer either. Residents, he said, suffered with higher insurance payments because of severe hurricane seasons and just didn’t need to be paying more in taxes.
Florida lawmakers will take a 5% pay cut, the Governor and cabinet will not. Only state troopers among state employees will see a pay hike, 5 percent, in 2008-09.

You can click here to watch the interview.