Lawmakers are again at a stalemate over the budget. Instead of negotiating the final details of the state spending plan for the next fiscal year, House and Senate leaders haven’t agreed to top line numbers.
That means the Legislature will need extra time to pass the budget, House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, confirmed Monday.
Unlike last year, when the Legislature needed 45 extra days to resolve a dispute that was primarily over tax cuts, Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, are at odds over how much to spend next year.
“We have a fundamental disagreement on what the budget should look like for the state of Florida,” Perez told reporters last week. “The House believes we should spend less money; the Senate believes we should spend more money.”
The House plan is $113.6 billion, while the Senate budget is $115 billion. That $1.4 billion gap is relatively small considering the size of the budget, but within that are other sizeable differences that will have to be resolved even after they agree to top line budget numbers.
The 60-day legislative session is scheduled to end Friday, but legislative leaders do agree they won’t meet that deadline, and another extended session or special session will be needed to reach consensus on the budget.
Here’s a look at some of the major differences amid the budget deadlock:
EDUCATION SPENDING
The gap between the chambers on K-12 education spending is about $300 million, with the Senate proposes $29.9 billion and the House has about $300 million more.
Beyond the level of funding is a disagreement over how to treat the $4.5 billion in projected costs for private school scholarships.
The Senate wants to keep that piece of the budget separate from the main funding formula for K-12 public schools, but the House prefers to include the provision in the traditional funding scheme.
STATE WORKERS
State workers would receive a 3 percent pay increase under the Senate budget, and state law enforcement officers, prison guards, firefighters and park rangers would get another 2 percent raise.
In the House plan there isn’t an across-the-board pay hike, but state law enforcement, prison guards, park rangers and state attorney would receive targeted raises.
The House also wants to address the $362.2 million projected shortfall in the fund that pays for state employees’ health insurance.
Part of the House budget includes a bill (HB 5207) that would require the Department of Management Services to use a formulary management, or list of approved drugs at predetermined benefit levels for state workers.
State employees would likely pay more for prescription drugs, saving the state an estimated $126 million per year.
The Senate doesn’t have a similar proposal, but the bill will be part of budget talks between the chambers.
ENVIRONMENT
For key land conservation programs, the chambers have differing approaches as well.
Although lawmakers put $300 million per year for many years for Florida Forever, the state’s land acquisition and conservation program, Republican leaders haven’t funded it at that level since the Great Recession in 2008.
The current year budget, though, gets close with $270.5 million. That doesn’t look set to continue, however, as the Senate has $35 million in its budget while the House doesn’t have any funding at all for the program.
Instead, the House includes $300 million for the Rural and Family Lands program, which provides easements to farmers, allowing them to maintain agriculture activities and protecting the land from future development. The Senate includes $200 million for that program.
EMERGENCY FUND
A fund used for emergencies such as hurricanes, but also used by DeSantis for immigration enforcement and to return Floridians stranded in global hotspots like Haiti and Israel, expired last month.
The Senate passed a bill (SB 7040) to extend it with $250 million, while the House advanced its own bill (HB 5503) with $100 million, but also more strings attached. The Joint Legislative Budget Commission would have to approve more funds every time a state of emergency that isn’t related to a natural disaster like a hurricane is extended.
Under state law a governor can only issue a state of emergency for two months at a time. DeSantis issued a state of emergency in 2023 for illegal immigration and has extended it ever since.
A report released in February showed the state had spent $573 million from the fund on immigration enforcement, which is usually the purview of the federal government.
DeSantis has claimed the federal government will reimburse the state but so far none of the funds have been paid.
HOUSING/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
On economic development programs, especially housing programs, the chambers are far apart as well.
The Senate has $510.2 million in its budget for affordable housing programs, about $223.8 million more than the House. It dedicates $75 million to the Hometown Heroes program, which provides downpayment and closing cost assistance to health care workers, school employees, first responders, court and childcare workers. The House has $50 million for the program.
There’s $184.5 million in the Senate plan for the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program, which gives local governments funding to pay for affordable housing for low-income families, while the House sets aside $165.7 million. The Senate has another $250.8 million for other affordable housing programs while the House has $70.8 million.
For a key economic development program cherished by DeSantis, the Jobs Growth Grant Program, which the Governor uses to give grants to local infrastructure and job training programs, the Senate sets aside $50 million while the House doesn’t fund it at all in its budget.
Another major difference is in citrus research. Florida’s iconic industry has been beleaguered by greening disease, freezes and hurricanes in recent years, and the state put $100 million into research for the current year – a large increase on the typical $10 million per year it usually receives. Now Albritton has $204.5 million for citrus research in the Senate budget, while the House has just $4 million.
—Gray Rohrer, News Service of Florida
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