Budget Differences Further Extend Legislative Session
Florida lawmakers have not yet reached agreement on a budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1 prompting a further extension of the current session until June 30.
The primary responsibility of the Florida legislature each year is to adopt a state budget. The budget then is presented to the Governor for action. Although lawmakers typically hope to complete the budget by the scheduled end of the regular session, that did not happen this year. Generally speaking, the House favored lower overall spending than the Senate, and the House favored tax cuts through broad reductions in the sales tax whereas the Senate favored more targeted tax cuts. Governor Ron DeSantis and many key lawmakers also prefer reductions to property taxes over lower sales taxes.
The House and Senate initially believed they could reach agreement as soon as a couple of weeks after the May 2 end of the regular session. However, that changed in recent days as Governor DeSantis announced that any proposal adopting tax cuts through reductions to the sales tax would be “dead on arrival” in his office. DeSantis points out that out-of-state residents contribute significantly to sales tax revenues due to tourism. He believes any tax cuts instead should be implemented in ways that are more beneficial to Floridians.
The House and Senate will continue efforts to reach a balance on the overall spending amount and the method of implementing tax cuts. However, in light of the competing ideas and lack of agreement thus far, the legislature has now extended the session until June 30. Absent a change of direction, this extension will not include consideration of bills that were not passed in the period of the regular session (with the exception of a limited list of primarily spending-related proposals).