Over the weekend newspapers across the state weighed in on the Governors’ proposed budget slamming it as nothing more than a move to raise his rock-bottom poll numbers by “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

See a round-up of editorials below:

Governor, Can You Spare Another Billion? [Editorial, Miami Herald] “What a difference a year makes. Gov. Rick Scott unveiled his proposed $66.4 billion state budget for next year with a call to “significantly increase state funding for education.” He even promised he wouldn’t sign the budget into law unless it includes more money for public schools. How much more? $1 billion! Yes, we know. That’s still less than the state’s education budget five years ago. It still won’t make up for the $1.35 billion the Legislature cut from education last session (which was still better than the amount Mr. Scott proposed foreducation funding).”

Scott’s Epiphany [Editorial, Gainesville Sun] “Gov. Rick Scott has had an epiphany: Education is important to Florida’s future. So he’s recommending an additional $1 billion for schools in the coming year and vows ‘I’m not signing a budget unless it has a significant increase for education.’ Sounds impressive at first blush. Until you consider that the last budget Scott signed cut school funding by $1.35 billion. The additional $1 billion he’s promising won’t even begin to get school funding back to where it was five years ago, before theLegislature decided that handing out tax cuts was a bigger priority than educating children. When you throw in the ‘smoke and mirrors’ portion of Scott’s proposal it sounds even less impressive.”

Scott Budget Does Schools No Favor [Editorial, Lakeland Ledger] “Don’t be fooled into thinking that the state budget Gov. Rick Scott proposed Wednesday will solve public school problems because he increased their budget by $1 billion. If that’s all he did for education in the 2012-2013 budget — and the Legislature went along with him during its annual 60-day session, starting Jan. 10 — he’d still be shy of the 2010-2011 education budget by $350 million. Worse, education would be no further ahead than its horribly depressed state now, because of lost federal funding, more students and less tax revenue.”

Budget Shouldn’t Pit Schools vs. Health [Editorial, Orlando Sentinel] “Gov. Rick Scott wants to spend more money on education. That’s the good news in the $66.4 billion budget proposal he unveiled this week. Unfortunately, it’s also the bad news. That’s because the increase comes at the expense of providinghealth-care services to some of the most vulnerable Floridians. Robbing Peter to pay Paul isn’t sound budgeting, and it doesn’t speak well of state leaders who consistently refuse to explore alternatives to across-the-board spending cuts or dicey privatization deals to balance the budget. Those leaders must do better.”