http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/nation/13197690.htmA Bush 'secret' exposed
A dispute over funding for the state Department of Juvenile Justice showed what one lawmaker called 'a dirty little secret' in how state agency budgets are controlled by the governor's office.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
An angry meeting in Miami between state legislators and juvenile justice officials has exposed publicly what for years has been an open secret in the state capital: Despite a state law to the contrary, Gov. Jeb Bush's administration handcuffs state agencies' requests for money from lawmakers.
The funding dispute arose during a bitter exchange Wednesday between lawmakers and officials of the state Department of Juvenile Justice. The legislators have questioned over the past three years why DJJ guards are poorly trained, don't have enough radios, and why surveillance equipment designed to protect both guards and children often doesn't work.
...
That's when Randy Ball, an aide in the governor's office, came to DJJ's defense, telling lawmakers that neither they nor DJJ Secretary Anthony Schembri had the right to meddle in the agency's spending plan.
...
Rep. Dan Gelber, a Miami Beach Democrat and frequent agency critic, called the revelation that Bush was censoring his agency heads' budget requests ``a dirty little secret.''