Needing to finish a budget for the July 1 start of the 2025-2026 fiscal year, the House and Senate on Tuesday began slowly rolling out proposals to resolve spending and policy differences.
Lawmakers returned to the Capitol for conference-committee negotiations after the end of a month-long impasse that focused, in part, on disputes about tax cuts. Leaders expressed confidence as the committees began hammering out issues in budget areas such as health and human services, the environment, transportation, education, criminal justice and agriculture.
"Our goal is to work through this fairly quickly," Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Chairman Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, said.
Sen. Jason Brodeur, a Sanford Republican who chairs the Senate Agriculture, Environment, and General Government Appropriations Committee, echoed Trumbull's comment. He pointed to Senate proposals Tuesday to try to reach agreement on issues.
ALSO READ: Floridians weigh in on the state's budget battle
"This is just the beginning," Brodeur said. "This is really just us starting. We went to a lot of places (where) we thought their House positions, coming off the floor, were reasonable. We tried to get a little bit closer to that. Now is really the first chance we've had to go back and see what priorities each chamber really has."
Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, and House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, announced a framework Friday night that includes the conference committees continuing to work until Thursday afternoon. At that point, unresolved issues will be turned over to House Budget Chairman Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, and Senate Appropriations Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Trinity, for further negotiations.
The House and Senate are expected to vote June 16 on the budget and a tax package. That would give Gov. Ron DeSantis about two weeks to sign the budget and use his line-item veto power.
As examples of differences in higher education, a House budget approved in April included $250 million for university performance-based incentives and $100 million for performance-based recruitment and retention incentives.
The Senate on Tuesday proposed providing $350 million for performance-based incentives and nothing for recruitment and retention incentives. The Senate also proposed $80 million to reward preeminent state research universities, which the House didn't include in its budget.
"We really want to continue to make sure all our universities are performing," Senate Higher Education Appropriations Chairwoman Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, said.
An example of a difference in the pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade budget area involves how voucher programs are funded. The Senate wants to create what is known as a "categorical" fund for the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program, a major voucher program. Categorical funds are earmarked for specific programs. The House has objected to the idea, a position that would leave the voucher money flowing through a broader funding formula.
Meanwhile, the House has proposed spending an additional $180 million for the My Safe Florida Home program, while also proposing to expand eligibility. The program, which prioritizes senior citizens and low-income people, offers inspections and grants up to $10,000 to help residents upgrade homes and qualify for property-insurance discounts. The House proposal would include moderate-income homeowners in the prioritization list.
Before putting forward a proposal on the issue, Brodeur said the Senate wants to see how much money is expected to go unused from $200 million put into the program during the current year. An additional $30 million was budgeted for a pilot program aimed at condominium owners.
Another big gap remained Tuesday on citrus research, where the Senate has proposed spending $104.5 million while the House is starting at $8 million.
Both chambers included $33.15 million for work on the northern Everglades, but the House and Senate are apart on funding for other Everglades projects. The Senate is at $614 million, the same amount as in the current fiscal year. The House is starting with $165 million.
In another big-ticket issue, the House has proposed repealing a 2024 law that directed gambling money to environmental projects. The law provides at least $450 million a year for issues such as buying and maintaining land in a state wildlife corridor, removing invasive species and converting properties from using septic tanks to sewer systems.
The gambling money comes from a deal, known as a "compact," that allows the Seminole Tribe of Florida to offer online sports betting statewide and provide games such as craps at its casinos. In exchange, the tribe pledged to pay $2.5 billion to the state over the first five years --- and possibly billions of dollars more throughout the three-decade pact
The Senate would cap the compact money going into water protection at $400 million, with the rest put in general revenue.
News Service Executive Editor Jim Saunders contributed to this story.
Copyright 2025 WUSF 89.7
