Recent Florida laws face undoing in legislative session U-turn this year
Just a year ago, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Live Healthy Act into law, providing $717 million for increases to Medicaid provider rates and expanding programs to teach and train health care workers.
Now, the House's proposed spending plan that passed through its Budget Committee on Wednesday removes much of that funding.
It's one of several instances where lawmakers are considering reversing decisions they made in recent years.
New laws requiring schools to start later, to distribute gambling revenues for environmental programs, to provide dedicated funding for affordable housing programs and eliminate one-way attorney fees for property insurance disputes all could be undone this year.
House leaders say reneging on spending for new initiatives is necessary in the light of the potentially dicey budget picture they'll face in the years to come. State economists project a $2 billion surplus for the next fiscal year, but a nearly $7 billion shortfall two years later if current spending trends continue.
'The Legislature often solves problems by passing a bill with a fancy name and promising to spend a lot of money,' House budget chief Rep. Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, said Wednesday before his panel passed the budget bills.
As examples, he cited the Live Healthy Act, the Live Local Act passed in 2023 to address affordable housing, and the Moving Florida Forward program spearheaded by DeSantis, which provides $4 billion over two years to kickstart transportation projects.
'All of these decisions have left us with a bloated state budget and the average Floridian has little to show for it. It is also the reason we're now left with looming budget deficits,' McClure said.
'I'm not saying these programs are bad or undeserving of state funding, I just think each year the Legislature should decide its own priorities and not be bound by prior Legislature's decisions.'
The Live Local and Live Healthy laws were top priorities of Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, who led the chamber as Senate president the previous two years. Her counterpart in the House was Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast.
But with the November elections came a turnover in legislative leadership. Renner's successor as speaker – Republican Daniel Perez of Miami – is pushing a plan to cut the state sales tax from 6% to 5.25%, saving consumers about $5 billion but putting pressure on lawmakers to cut spending.
The budget reversals aren't the only things the House is rethinking under Perez. It's moving forward with bills to undo changes to tort law aimed at reducing or eliminating attorney fees and payouts in insurance and medical claims cases.
For instance, one bill (HB 1551) would restore one-way attorney fees in some cases – two years after lawmakers eliminated them entirely as a way to shore up a beleaguered property insurance market. The bill has passed through two committees in the House but hasn't advanced in the Senate.
And another (HB 947) would allow more types of evidence to be admitted to show unpaid medical expenses in court, reversing a law passed by the Legislature in 2023. Renner isn't pleased with that move, and slammed it on social media last week.
'Just two years ago, the Florida Legislature ended sham litigation practices that made billboard lawyers rich at our expense,' Renner posted on X on Thursday. 'Very simply, a vote for this bill is a total giveaway to personal injury lawyers and will cost every Floridian money.
"This defining vote should be an easy 'NO' for Republican members who supported our 2023 reforms and new members who want to take a principled stand for their constituents. Our reforms are working, and we must stay the course."
But in a chamber dominated by Republicans, HB 947 has garnered just three negative votes in two committee hearings and is headed to the House floor. The Senate version of the bill (SB 1520) hasn't moved in that chamber.
It isn't just the House making a U-turn on major policy initiatives, though.
The Senate last month unanimously passed SB 296, which eliminates a requirement for schools to move start times later in the morning. Starting in the 2026-27 school year, middle school were to start no earlier than 8 a.m. and high school no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
The move was intended to help students get more sleep and do better in the classroom. But many school districts said the logistical and funding challenges would be too great to comply with the law, moving lawmakers to reverse course. The House version of the bill (HB 261) is headed to the floor in that chamber.
Mostly, though, it's the House spending plan looking to claw back decisions made within the last two years. It also wants to eliminate the law distributing gambling revenue funds for environmental programs.
A law from last year puts at least $100 million in the Florida Wildlife Corridor and $100 million for land management activities, including $32 million for state parks. The House budget would sweep the funds into general revenue, the main funding source for state government operations.
The House and Senate are scheduled to pass their respective budgets off the floor this week, setting the stage for formal talks between the chambers on a final spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Passidomo's successor – Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula – admitted being caught somewhat off-guard by the whiplash in the House budget but said he believes the chambers will be able to hammer out a budget deal that DeSantis will like.
'There are always surprises,' Albritton told reporters Thursday. 'There are three folks that want the best for Florida, and we will figure it out.'
Gray Rohrer is a reporter with the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at grohrer@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @GrayRohrer.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida lawmakers make moves to undo major recent policy changes
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