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august 7, 1962
EVINS ECONOUIC NEHSIBTTER
VOLUME I, NUMBER 11
Many of the members of the Capital Press Corps may recall
that on October 1, 1961, l issued the first of this series of fiscal
commentaries. In that report I contended that Governor Bryant could
then successfully account for some 335.513.295 of the $50 million
he pledged to the people or Florida he would "save" as governor.
Although my memory or the period immediately following
that release in a little hazy (occasioned by a slight dizziness
incurred while blowing up certain balloons), I do recall that while
there were some who mildly questioned some or the figures then cited,
no argument was given my claim that conditions "reflect well on a
climate of government, created by strong leadership, which places
emphasis on prudence and battles waste in a manner not noted in
Tallahassee in recent years."
Several recent developments have bearing on the fulfillment
of the Governor's promise to the people or Florida and warrant this
continuation of our Journies through savingsland. It is well,
however, to again review what the Governor was talking about during
his campaign. The Tampa Tribune, a newspaper reported to have some
stature in the state, by virtue of its extensive circulation, quoted
then-candidate Bryant on May 10, 1960, as saying:
"I believe there is fat and waste in government that can
and must be eliminated.
'me economy which I seek is not the economy or the budget
cutter, because our taxes are not going to be decreased to any
substantial degree, and increased revenue will flow into the state
treasury.
"But it is an economy which eliminates the pork barrel and
reduces overlapping and duplication of state agencies, and eliminates
weak control or public money.
We have too many basic needs to insure our continued growth
and prosperity to permit us to waste our funds."
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Now, what has happened under Bryant's leaderahip?
For the ten fiscal years immediately preceding the 1961-
62 fiscal year the coat of operating the state functions of Florida
grew at an average yearly rate of $37,402,082.06 -- and in the four
full fiscal years preceding Bryant's Inauguration averaged an increase
of more than 58 and a half million dollars a year.
During Bryant's first fiecal year an Governor, Florida not
only did not increase its operating expenditures by 37 or more
millions, but actually reduced them by $13,621,677.68 over the
preceding fiscal year. It takes no mathematical marvel to note that
the actual reduction in operating expenses, totaled with the increase
which might well have been anticipated, in $51,023,759.7h.
Governor Bryant took note of this reduction in hie message
to opening session of the current Special Legislative Session when
he noted that "the coat of general government and the work of
government operating expense was reduced in the year ending June 30
for the first time since Florida's modern period of growth. When
you meet to plan Floridas future in 1953 you will be able to move
forward on a sound financial footing."
There in ample evidence that the Governor has clearly and
completely lived up to his pledge to the 1960 campaign regarding the
50 million. Individual itema of economy may be challenged and it
in, of couroe, debatable whether, and in what degree, the
$51,000,000 discussed in the foregoing, the 336,000,000 cited last
year, and the many additional millions which have been retrieved
from waste or derived from wine management, can be credited to the
Governor.
There can, however, be no question that under Farris Bryant,
as under no Florida governor of modern timed, the cost of governmental
operations has been clashed without a corresponding reduction in the
pace of progress.
To paraphrase a popular slogan, Floridians with Bryant,
unburdened by new taxea, are spending lean for government now and
enjoying it more.
"It '8 what'a up front that counts."
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