Currently, there is no overall legislative policy governing how regulatory programs should be funded. As a result, Florida's 190 regulatory programs vary widely with regard to self-sufficiency requirements, funding sources, and types of user fees. Only 81 of these programs are required to be self-supporting, and the state subsidizes others with at least $29 million in general revenue. Total state support cannot reliably be determined because many agencies do not allocate indirect costs to their programs.

If the Legislature wishes to establish a uniform policy governing regulatory program funding, we recommend that it consider:

• eliminating statutory caps on regulatory fee amounts;
• revising legislative budget request instructions to require agencies to provide written justification when requesting general revenue for a regulatory program;
• revising legislative budget request instructions to establish a uniform methodology for calculating regulatory program costs; and
• requiring agencies to establish rules regarding the mix of user charges needed to meet the funding requirements for each regulatory program.