TALLAHASSEE -- Susan Nyamora pushes her baby in a stroller into the day care center at the Susan B. Anthony drug treatment center in Pembroke Pines and wonders how different her life would be if Florida's budget crisis had hit the center two years ago instead of now.

''It saved my life,'' said Nyamora, 40. Instead of five years in jail, she was sentenced to treatment for cocaine addiction. Instead of giving birth to her baby in jail, she had the baby at the center, spent 18 months in treatment as an alternative to jail, took parenting classes, kept her five children together, and completed her associate's degree in social work.

Now success stories like Nyamora's may be harder to find. The Florida Legislature approved $1.2 billion worth of spending cuts Wednesday to erase the state's $2.4 billion budget deficit. The cuts are the latest in what is now a total of $6.9 billion shaved from state spending since July 1, 2007, to account for declines in tax revenues. And they are a preview of more to come when lawmakers meet in regular session in March.

Included in the latest cuts are $3 million from drug treatment programs like The Susan B. Anthony Center. It will lose three of its remaining 19 beds, meaning some of the six women with children waiting for treatment at the women-only center ''are going to have to go to jail and their children to foster care,'' said Marsha Currant, the center's CEO. ''It makes no sense,'' adding that the cuts not only increase the long-term cost to the state but the long-term risk to society.

''We're not stopping the cycle of abuse, and you may have the next generation doing the same thing,'' she said. ``But this is only the beginning.''

MORE CUTS LOOM

Legislators predict they'll have to close another $3 billion shortfall when they write the 2008-09 budget this spring.

''This is a prelude,'' Senate President Jeff Atwater of North Palm Beach warned, moments after the Legislature adjourned.

He predicted more spending cuts, unless lawmakers agree to until-now unheard of tax increases, he said.

The prospect of additional budget cuts is sending shock waves of worry through Florida. Parents at Ronald Reagan High School in Doral have pitched a tent to protest school cuts, with two mothers on a hunger strike. The complaint from many parents and state workers is the same: short-term cuts will have long-term and potentially irreversible costs.

Mark Fontaine, executive director of the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association, says that for every drug addict sent to residential treatment, the state saves $10 a day and produces someone who ''has been taught live in a community,'' while prisons produce punishment.

''For every bed we lose in the community treatment system, it represents a person who is going to end up in a more expensive program -- the Florida state prison system,'' added Broward County Circuit Court Judge Marcia Beach.

`WE CAN'T GET THERE'

''Most people who are in Florida prisons are there because they are either a drug user or are involved with drugs,'' she said. Cutting back treatment programs puts more pressure on prisons, already at a record 100,000 inmates, she said.

''We are never going to build our way out of this,'' she said. ``We know what we ought to be doing, but we can't get there.''

Sen. Victor Crist, a Tampa Republican who heads up the Senate budget committee that oversees many of these programs, has heard it all before. He fought the drug treatment cuts and worries there will be more. His solution: Start looking at eliminating tax breaks.

''You've got to take a hard look at all the options,'' he said.

Bibiana Salmon of Doral is so upset by the shortsightedness of the school cuts -- $820 million cuts from K-12 schools this year statewide -- that she's pitched a tent and started a hunger strike.

''They are robbing our children's future,'' said Salmon, one of two mothers on the hunger strike. She said she has watched as her daughter's high school has cut back teacher benefits, special education instructors, career specialist, made support staff do double duty and reduced the number of class periods from eight to six.

''We are leaving the school to a skeleton crew with a skeleton infrastructure,'' Salmon said. ``As a mother, I know the school system is not providing the basic education.''

She's going without food to send a message to legislators that they must put children first. ''They have basically ignored us,'' she said.

PUBLIC REACTION

Just hours before legislators finished their budget-cutting package, Gov. Charlie Crist pointed to the empty Capitol plaza and told supporters that Floridians ''know and understand'' the difficult cuts lawmakers have to make.

''That's why you don't see protesters outside,'' he said.

Although some workers have been fearful to speak out against the cuts because of potential retaliation, Crist offered assurances. ``That's not going to happen. . . . This is America and if anyone wants to express their view because of the First Amendment, they have a right to do it and I would encourage them to do so.''

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@