Florida Children’s Campaign has highlighted a number of ways to increase the state’s revenue by almost 3.5 billion dollars – revenue that, if made available, could help meet the needs of Floridians without cutting vital services to children like maternal health, family preservation and child safety, early learning, before and after-school care and juvenile justice. Their recommendations for additional revenue sources, gathered from a laundry list of Florida non-partisan organizations, include ideas from Florida TaxWatch, Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy, Associated Industries of Florida, Florida Council of 100, the Florida Chamber and many others.

And what can Florida do with 3.5 billion dollars? They’ve got answers to that as well:

• Restore and fully fund the successful Healthy Start program.
• Restore KidCare enrollment to pre-rule change levels.
• Adequately fund Part C Early Steps to provide necessary early intervention for young children with disabilities.
• Restore funding to cost saving Healthy Families Program.
• Fully fund the legislative mandate for Guardian ad Litem.
• Restore general revenue dollars to the Department of Children and Families.
• Restore the reimbursement rate to voluntary pre-kindergarten providers.
• Create a separate funding stream for before and after-school programs.
• Expand successful and cost saving Juvenile Assessment Centers to counties where they are not available.
• Restore past cuts to juvenile justice system. Redirect those dollars to front end prevention, diversion and early intervention, including the PACE Center for Girls, CINS/FINS, day treatment and other community based models.
• Fund other state services such as public education, aging, veterans, public libraries, arts and environment.

Raise Revenue, save Services. So simple, even a child can understand it….