TALLAHASSEE -- At a white cloth-covered table dotted with glasses of orange juice, Republican legislative leaders proudly toasted the on-time end of a lawmaking session, a no-new-taxes budget and the ascendancy of the GOP in Florida.

That was a dozen years ago. Today, the sense of optimism that buoyed the state's Republicans has begun to crumble as legislative leaders struggle in a nearly deadlocked session to meet their constitutional duty to craft a balanced state budget.

Gridlocked, legislators likely won't finish a budget by session's end on Friday.

''Not getting done on time sends a wrong signal to the taxpayers of the state,'' said Sen. Mike Fasano, a New Port Richey Republican. ``It's embarrassing.''

And Republicans, who have dominated the Legislature since 1996, aren't just down because of budget talks. They're also confronting other issues that make them wince: They're raising taxes. The economic news is blotting out other topics that traditionally fire up supporters, like abortion or guns. Even Florida Forever, a popular land-preservation program begun by a Republican Gov. Bob Martinez, is endangered.

Fasano fondly recalled the 1997 juice-toasting ceremony when Senate President Toni Jennings and House Speaker Dan Webster were served by the last Democratic governor, Lawton Chiles. The event underscored the Republicans' new businesslike approach to lawmaking -- and put the final touches on a long downward spiral by Democrats.

''If we're not careful, we could end up making the same mistake the Democrats did in Florida or that Republicans did just a few years ago in Washington,'' Fasano said.

While many Republican senators remember the day they celebrated their party's control of the Legislature in the Capitol rotunda, no one in the House does. None of them was there.

The House is now packed with freshmen and sophomore lawmakers, as term limits continue to take their toll. Most House members never knew a Legislature before Republicans held a large majority and control of the governor's mansion.

TOO NEW

Though he supports term limits, Fasano said the logjammed budget talks are partly due to that lack of experience, coupled with an overly partisan ideology in the House. The Senate's proposed budget passed unanimously. The House's passed on party lines.

Yet House leaders say the Senate is acting like the less experienced chamber by refusing to take a long-term view. The House wants the Senate to make deeper cuts to state workers' pay, a transportation trust fund and higher education so that the state can sock away more cash for bad times -- and for the day, just two years from now, when federal stimulus dollars disappear.

Rep. Will Weatherford, a Wesley Chapel Republican who was in high school when the GOP took full control of the Legislature, dismissed any comparisons to past legislative sessions. He said the state has never been in such dire straits, and people will understand if the Legislature doesn't finish on time Friday.

''If we can't finish on time,'' he said, ``I don't think it's a function of us not working together. I think it's a function of the fact it's a very complicated issue and sometimes it takes a lot of hard work to get it done.''

Lawmakers must have a balanced budget by July 1, the start of the new state fiscal year. Many expected to have broad agreement on the general ways to allocate money in the more than $65 billion budget by Tuesday.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@