Disagreements over state spending will force legislators in the House and Senate to work beyond the regular 60-day session.
Budget proposals approved by the respective chambers show a spending difference of $1.4 billion. Last month, House members approved a $113.6 billion spending proposal for the upcoming fiscal year. The plan spends $4 billion less compared to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ $117 billion budget and $1.3 billion less than the budget approved by the Legislature for the current fiscal year, which ends July 1.
A $115 billion budget proposal by the Senate for the coming fiscal year also passed last month. With spending differences still needing to be sorted out, House and Senate leadership have indicated the budget work will not be completed in time for the final day of session on March 13.
“We have a fundamental disagreement on what the budget should look like for the state of Florida,” House Speaker Daniel Perez said last week. “The House believes we should spend less money; the Senate believes we should spend more money.”
Senate President Ben Albritton has said the two budget proposals are closer than they were last year.
“I view that as very beneficial and would be something Floridians look at and say that’s a good start,” he said during a recent interview with CBS Miami. “If you look at the budget as a whole, there are a couple of silos we’ll figure out. There are lots of places in the budget where we’re not far off.”
Kate DeLoach, lobbyist with the Southern Group, said the legislature will either need to extend session or go home and return to complete the budget. DeLoach said there are other matters awaiting legislators.
“They will also be back for redistricting, already scheduled for April, and likely for property taxes, which isn’t scheduled yet,” DeLoach said.
Per the Florida League of Cities, the largest portion of spending goes to Health and Human Services. The House and Senate’s proposed budgets include $49.3 billion and $49 billion, respectively. The state’s combined education programs and services received the second-largest proportion of funding, totaling $31.83 billion and $31.80 billion, respectively.
Natural resources, the environment, growth management and transportation expenditures represent the third-largest portion of the House and Senate’s proposed budgets, at $18.37 billion and $19.72 billion, respectively.
Despite the budget differences, both chambers allocated $20 million for the Florida Keys Stewardship Act. Funds support stormwater, canal restoration projects and other water quality projects from Key Largo to Key West.
How that money is doled out remains a point of contention. The Senate’s budget contains specific directions on how those funds are expended, with the distribution plan being consistent with the most recent executed intergovernmental agreement among Islamorada, Key Largo Wastewater Treatment District (KLWTD), Marathon, Monroe County, Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority (FKAA), Key West and Key Colony Beach.
The last two cycles of Stewardship funding have involved the Department of Environment Protection distributing through a grant portal. Before that, an intergovernmental agreement served as the mechanism, allowing each party access to greater proportions of funds at different times based on the progress of their individual wastewater projects.
Last year, Marathon, Key Colony Beach, Islamorada, FKAA and KLWTD signed onto a new proposed agreement detailing an even funding split of 12.5% over five years among the signees, unincorporated Monroe County and Key West.
Monroe County and Key West, however, viewed the proposal as inequitable. The county prefers the portal, which allows municipalities to compete based on the merit of their projects. The House budget contains no language regarding an intergovernmental agreement, keeping the portal system as the way for municipalities to submit projects to secure funding. That means the Senate and House will need to come to consensus.
Several Keys projects are also included in both budgets, but the funding totals differ. For instance, the Senate has $5 million in its spending plan for FKAA’s Crawl Key reverse osmosis facility while the House set aside $2.5 million. The Senate also allocated $5 million for the Trumbo workforce housing project in Key West, but the House has earmarked $2.5 million.
The House budget proposal includes $2.5 million for Marathon’s deep injection well project, but no money is allocated in the Senate.
Perez said affordability is the defining issue facing Florida families.“This (House) budget is $1.3 billion less than the current year because we believe fiscal discipline is not optional; it is our responsibility,” he said.
