Legislature to Return in April to Work on Budget
Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez announced that the regular legislative session will conclude March 12, but lawmakers will return in mid-April to complete the budget process. This is second consecutive year lawmakers have not completed the budget during the regular session.
Bills that do not pass by tomorrow’s end of the regulation session will die. Legislators then will return in mid-April to focus on the budget. It is possible the legislature or the Governor will add other topics to the agenda or call separate special sessions on other issues– Governor Ron DeSantis already announced earlier this year that he will bring the legislature back on April 20 to address congressional redistricting.
The House and Senate have not yet agreed on the overall spending for this year’s budget, which in turn precludes more detailed resolution of where the money will be spent. The chambers are about $1.4 billion apart in their budget proposals, which is relatively small in relation to a $115 billion overall budget. Nonetheless, they haven’t been able to bridge the gap and within the overall budget number, the chambers have differing priorities on specific spending areas.