Legislative Session Headed Toward Overtime
With one week to go in Florida’s regulation legislative session, it appears the scheduled 60 days might not be enough. The legislature’s primary responsibility each year is to pass a state budget for presentation to the Governor. However, due to “philosophical differences” between the House of Representatives and the Senate, key legislators say there’s not enough time to work out their differences before the scheduled end of the session on May 2.
Senate President Ben Albritton commented at the end of last week budget talks have stalled, primarily due to differences between the House and Senate on the total amount of spending and how to implement tax cuts. House Speaker Danny Perez, on the other hand, criticized a Senate proposal he believes constitutes “overspending.” Early budget proposals had the House and Senate about $4 billion apart on about $115 billion in projected state spending. The House also proposes tax cuts of about $5 billion primarily through a reduction in the state sales tax. The Senate’s tax cut proposal is closer to $2 billion though more limited reductions in sales taxes and other fees.
The legislature has two options for continuing its work on the budget if not completed within the scheduled 60 days. They could simply extend the current session, or they could convene in a special session to take place later in May or in June. As of today, it is not clear which approach the legislature will pursue. The deadline for the legislature to adopt a new budget is July 1.