TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida lawmakers are still nowhere close to agreeing on a budget for the next fiscal year. That means the legislative session that was supposed to wrap up Friday will not end on time.
Passing a balanced budget is the only thing they are required by law to do during the 60-day legislative session.
There have been backroom negotiations for the last few weeks to figure out how the state should spend money next year.
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman, at least seven different offers have been made to the House to consider. But the sides are still pretty far apart: a $4 billion gap is dividing them.
The House’s proposal totaled $112.95 billion, while the Senate’s weighed in at $117.36 billion.
The House has proposed a tax package (HB 7033) totaling about $5 billion, with the cuts largely stemming from a plan to permanently reduce the state’s sales-tax rate from 6 percent to 5.25 percent.
The Senate proposed a $1.83 billion tax-cut package (SB 7034) that includes eliminating sales taxes on clothing and shoes that cost $75 or less, and continuing temporary tax cuts through different sales tax holidays.
On Thursday, House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, advised their members that lawmakers won’t be in Tallahassee next week.
“We are putting together a framework for a budget, and I am optimistic we will have more news to share soon,” Albritton said. “For your planning purposes, you do not need to plan on being here next week. I hope that will give everyone a chance to celebrate Mother’s Day weekend with your loved ones.”
With Mother’s Day on May 11, that means the formal budget conference negotiating process won’t happen until at least around the middle of the month.
It remained unclear early Thursday how the House and Senate would agree on coming back to pass a budget and possibly other legislation. A budget must be finished before the July 1 start of the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
University of North Florida Political Science Professor Dr. Michael Binder said taxpayers might be understandably confused over why the budget decision is being delayed while the clock is ticking to the June 30 deadline for the end of the fiscal year.
“This is not a circumstance where there is this traumatic, external shock. We have a $2 billion surplus. So what is the problem? That is one perspective,” Binder said.
He also pointed out that the delay could cause ripple effects that taxpayers will start to notice, especially when it comes to funding for education.
“All of the state priorities have not been aligned yet. It makes it impossible for all of these state agencies to plan what they’re going to be able to do next year,” Binder said. “How can they set their budget in a timely manner so that they can go and conduct the business of the state? This makes it really difficult for these agencies to do that.”
Even when lawmakers reach an agreement on a budget, that’s not the end. There has to be a mandatory 72-hour “cooling-off” period, which is when no one can touch the budget before they ultimately vote on it.
The governor has to sign an approved budget by June 30 to avoid a government shutdown because the new fiscal year starts on July 1.
