Week five of the Florida Legislative session kicks off this week, and both the Senate and House, of course, have already released their prospective budgets for the upcoming fiscal year that starts July 1. The Senate proposed a $92.8 billion budget while the House proposed a $91.3 billion budget. The $1.5 billion difference includes funding amounts for the environment, education, health care, teachers’ salaries, criminal justice and transportation.
But according to Mary Ann Hooks, director of governmental affairs for the University of Florida/IFAS, expectations are the Senate and House will take up the budget bills for a vote this week. Shortly after the bills pass through their respective chambers, a budget conference committee will then be appointed to negotiate the issues. During that time, legislators will work out the differences until they agree on the exact same budget.
And while working out those differences in the two bills will be a difficult job for budget negotiators, the first steps in preparation for putting together a final budget before the legislative session ends March 13 is underway.