TALLAHASSEE — House and Senate budget negotiators agreed to pay raises for state employees, with bigger boosts going to law enforcement officers and firefighters, as talks continued Tuesday on a state spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Trinity, and House Budget Committee Chairman Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, also agreed to a slight bump, or 1.59 percent, in K-12 per-student funding. The increase will rely heavily upon local government property taxes.
“I think we’re fairly close to seeing the light at the end of this tunnel,” Hooper told reporters Tuesday.
“I can see the light very clearly,” McClure quipped.
The budget chiefs said they hope to close out the remainder of unresolved issues involving health care, education, general government and natural resources, along with associated bills and a tax package, later this week.
Unresolved differences between the chambers’ budget plans will then go to House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula. Lawmakers are expected to vote early next week on the final version of the roughly $115 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Part of the K-12 education budget settled this week would spend $9,130.41 per pupil, an increase of $142.74.
“This Legislature has a deep commitment not only to public education but education as a whole,” McClure said.
Meanwhile, legislators agreed to spend $180 million to give state workers a 2 percent raise next year.
Another $49 million would provide raises for state law-enforcement officers and $6.62 million for state firefighters. Raises would range from 10 percent to 15 percent, with law-enforcement officers and firefighters who have at least 5 years of experience receiving the larger bump.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ budget proposal did not recommend pay hikes for state workers but sought 20 percent raises for new law enforcement officers and 25 percent increases for veteran law enforcement and firefighters.
McClure and Hooper also this week agreed to spend $43.6 million on new dorms for state prisons. The Senate originally earmarked $100 million for new housing in the state’s aging correctional facilities.
The budget chiefs' plan includes another $43 million to address a projected increase in the state's inmate population. The leaders also agreed to direct nearly $57.2 million to the Department of Corrections — which had an annual budget this year of over $3.7 billion — to help cover the agency’s deficit.
The Joint Legislative Budget Commission last week signed off on a proposal giving the corrections agency $71.4 million to offset a projected deficit for the current fiscal year. The deficit is “mainly attributable to inflationary and operational cost increases,” according to a proposal submitted to the commission by the agency.
Meanwhile, DeSantis hasn't backed down from his request that lawmakers provide property-tax relief to homeowners. DeSantis has called for a property-tax rebate to homesteaded property owners this year and wants to place a proposal before voters next year that would cut or eliminate property taxes. He reiterated that position Monday during an appearance in Wakulla County.
“I want to do a property tax rebate this year. We're working with the Senate on the budget, on getting that through,” DeSantis said. “I think that's really important for people.”
Hooper and McClure, meanwhile, said they haven’t been involved in such talks about a property-tax rebate.
“I have not seen any formal proposal for any property tax,” Hooper said. “I'm assuming that discussion is going on between the governor's office and maybe the (House) speaker and the (Senate) president.”
