State budget negotiations began in earnest Tuesday, with the House making spending offers to the Senate on tourism and economic development, health care, and education in hopes of passing a compromise by the end of the month.
The Florida House in its first budget offer during the budget special session is standing by its earlier refusal to fund the Florida State Guard, a former centerpiece of the Gov. Ron DeSantis administration.
The Senate, meanwhile, is asking for more than $28 million to fund that ostensibly civilian force — resuscitated by DeSantis in 2022 to contribute to emergency response but also used to buttress immigration enforcement.
But while the House — so far — is suggesting zeroing out the force, the lower chamber’s leaders say those numbers have plenty of time to change.
“We are … watching for the results of the inspector general’s investigation,” said Republican Jason Shoaf of Port St. Joe, vice chair of the Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development. He referred to allegations of financial abuse and sexual harassment within the guard.
“Once we get that, we’ll be able to make the right decision on it. And at this point, it’s too early to guess or assume where we’re gonna end up on the funding of that project,” he said.
READ MORE: Florida is starting its budget-focused special session. What to know
Republican Sen. Ed Hooper of Clearwater, the committee’s chair, agreed: “It won’t be $33.9 million, and it won’t be zero,” he said.
This comes amid bitter relations between DeSantis and House Speaker Daniel Perez, a Miami Republican bent on asserting the lower chamber’s independence from the governor. This is the fifth special session since Perez and his Senate counterpart, Ben Albritton, assumed legislative leadership — and the second revolving around delayed budget negotiations.
DeSantis revived the State Guard, a civilian volunteer force, four years ago. He wanted to expand the World War II-era militia as an emergency response unit under his sole purview. In 2024, he deployed members to the U.S-Mexico border in Texas.
The House continues to refuse to front the costs to rename the Palm Beach International Airport after President Donald Trump, while the Senate is requesting $2.75 million for the Donald J. Trump International Airport in its namesake’s backyard.
Health and human services
In other areas, Perez has made funding for the Agency for Persons with Disabilities a priority during his two years as House-speaker designate and his first year at the helm of the chamber. And this year is no different.
In its first offer on spending in the Health and Human Services area of the budget, the House offered to boost the agency by $32 million.
The House also has proposed to eliminate 400 vacant positions from the Florida Department of Health, along with nearly $28 million in funding. The offer matches what the Senate initially proposed in its spending bill.
The House’s offer included eliminating $51 million from the Florida Health Innovation Council in the Department of Health. It’s a position the House took during the regular session and continues to advocate during the budget special session. Championed by former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo of Naples as part of her Live Healthy initiative the council, with a $1 million appropriation, oversees a $50 million revolving loan program.
The program provides low-interest financing to licensed health care facilities, educational institutions, and clinical training providers pursuing “innovative technology,” plus equipment and materials. Loans cover up to 50% of total project costs, or up to 80% for rural or underserved area applicants.
The House’s offer didn’t address the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). The Legislature agreed during the regular session to a $31 million appropriation to stave off a purported $120 million deficit that had the DeSantis administration eliminating coverage for thousands of people. That funding is intact only through the end of June.
House Health Care Budget Subcommittee Chairman Alex Andrade of Pensacola said the exclusion of ADAP in the chamber’s first funding offer doesn’t indicate lack of support from him or his counterpart, Sen. Jay Trumbull of Panama City.
“I think Sen.Trumbull and I are both committed to trying to address that issue without really making it a topic of negotiation,” Andrade said following the brief meeting.
Campus transfer
The House made offers to the Senate on education spending, including a controversial proposal to transfer the University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus to the New College of Florida, headed by former House speaker and political lightning rod Richard Corcoran.
“At this point we haven’t made a decision yet,” Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education Chair Sen. Gayle Harrell of Stuart said of the land transfer. The Senate didn’t embrace the transfer in its budget proposals during the regular session.
“At this point, we are with our position,” she said.
The House maintained its reluctance to fund the Rural School Districts Supplemental Services Grant program. The Senate is proposing $25 million. That program would provide money to rural education consortia.
The House maintained its position to not fund Schools of Hope, while the Senate is proposing $6 million.
The House is asking for $13 million more than the Senate’s $11 million for education capital projects funding.
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