Lobby corps has muted reaction to Rick Scott’s budget

With Monday’s release of Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed 2016-17 state budget, so begins the game of smoke signals between the governor’s office, legislative leaders, and the lobbying corps and their clients.

What lobbyists took away from the “Florida First” budget is that Scott will be focused like a Tesla death ray on getting his $1 billion in tax cuts and $250 million for tax credits to entice businesses to move here or expand in the Sunshine State.

Despite a barrage of emailed accolades for his budget from departments and agencies that report to the governor, everything else is “the necessary window dressing” that comes with running the third-most populous state, as one lobbyist put it.

For instance, Scott raises education spending by 2.5 percent, though critics were quick to point out that $427 million of that comes from increased property tax collections because of rebounding property values.

Regardless, Scott gets to say he’s an ‘education governor’ by flacking the increases.

Most lobbyists were still poring over Scott’s 353-page proposal Monday afternoon.

Because the governor’s budget doesn’t include the Legislature’s “member projects” that go into the final spending plan, it’s not as initially easy to see whose ox is being fed or gored.

“He doesn’t get down to the granular level we work on,” said Tallahassee lobbyist Brian Ballard of the eponymous Ballard Partners statewide lobby firm.

“But we never get too worked up over a governor’s budget,” he added. “It’s just the beginning of the process.”

Ron Pierce, president of RSA Consulting Group, similarly said it’s good to have projects in any governor’s proposed budget but offered that “the real budgeting doesn’t start till January” when the Legislature embarks on its 2016 Session

“Of course, if you’re in that (initial) budget, you get to tell the Legislature that (your client) is among the governor’s priorities,” he said.

Lobbyist Ron LaFace of Capital City Consulting added that “it’s always nice to be part of the recommended budget,” but being omitted “isn’t critical.”

At the same time, no lawmaker “is interested in funding projects that are going to get vetoed,” LaFace said.

When asked whether Scott’s budget would please any of his clients, Ballard took a pass: “That’s like spiking the football before the game gets started,” he said.