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Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Done deal: Florida legislators reach a budget agreement
House budget chief Rep. Lawrence McClure, left, and Senate budget chief Sen. Ed Hooper, right, answer budget questions on June 13, 2025. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) Amid looming federal cuts, legislators finalized the state spending plan for the next fiscal year Friday, announcing they expect to take a final vote on the budget Monday evening. As of Friday evening, the budget had not been printed, but Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, told reporters the spending plan is about $500 million less than what Gov. Ron DeSantis' proposed $115.6 billion budget for state fiscal year 2025-26. Friday marked the 102nd day of this year's legislative session, which was extended because of the legislative leaders' failure to pass a budget. Disagreements over the size of the budget and what approach to take on tax cuts created a rift that pushed lawmakers to come back to Tallahassee to pass a budget before June 30 to avoid a government shutdown. House Budget Committee Chair Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, said the debate took longer than it should have, but put the blame in part on special sessions on immigration called prior to the start of the 2025 legislative session. 'That took a lot of bandwidth from both chambers, membership and staff. So I'm not excusing that we're delayed in getting this budget done, but there were contributing factors that largely were out of the control of either chamber,' he said. 'I'm glad we did the work on immigration. It was important work. But I'm thankful we were as thorough as we were,' on the budget. McClure also stressed the leaner budget. He emphasized the $1.5 billion set for reserves over the next two fiscal years, which the GOP-led Legislature is touting as an answer for a potential recession. 'For starters, it's a smaller supplemental list than many years prior,' McClure said, adding, 'we've put a bunch of recurring money in reserve stabilizing the long-term future.' Lawmakers last dipped into the Budget Stabilization Fund, which currently has $4.4 billion, during the Great Recession. Still, President Donald Trump's plan to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency after this year's hurricane season worried Hooper, he said. The Senate agreed to provide $23 million for the Florida State Guard — DeSantis had requested $62 million — keeping in mind the civilian volunteer force's role in responding to emergencies. 'We heard yesterday that, from our friends in Washington, after this hurricane season, there may be no more FEMA,' Hooper said. 'We may be on our own someday, and that would not be the time to start thinking about what should we plan ahead. … Just the state guard is an important part of making sure our state has the resources because the National Guard; it could be called anywhere.' The Florida State Guard has mainly been part of DeSantis' messaging against illegal immigration, particularly in sending troops to Texas' southern border. Hooper also expressed concerns about the multi-billion-dollar cut to Medicaid that Congress could enact. About 44% of federal funds coming into the state are for Medicaid. 'We hope they never change the formula of the Medicaid reimbursement,' he said. 'We're in trouble if they do.' Legislators earmarked nearly $560 million for local projects important to members. The supplemental funding was included on so-called sprinkle lists the chambers released Friday. But those hundreds of millions went to more than local projects. The powerful nursing home industry was able to secure significant Medicaid rate increases for long-term care facilities on both the House and Senate sprinkle lists. In the aggregate, the chambers agreed to a $176 million hike, of which about $18 million is recurring. That's on top of a near $110 million rate increase the chambers had already agreed to put in the budget. The increase in funds is expected to be coupled with new requirements on nursing homes that will be addressed in separate legislation, known as the conforming bill. It will be one of a spate of issues contained in SB 2514 the health care conforming bill. The House targeted $23.3 million in state and federal funds to a Medicaid managed care program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The program is a priority of House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, who pushed this year to take the small pilot program available in two Medicaid regions statewide. Republican Senate President Ben Albritton, of Wachula, had to give up his dreams for a $200 million 'Rural Renaissance' to invest in the state's underdeveloped and economically challenged communities. But he managed to keep most of the money for tackling food insecurity. Before budget negotiations fell apart earlier in the year, the Senate's budget included two grant programs through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: $12 million to expand the infrastructure of food banks in rural communities, and another $38 million to help food banks buy products from Florida farmers. In this final deal, Albritton gets to keep $10 million for food bank infrastructure and $28 million for farmers to feed communities. Food bank networks across the state counted on this investment following the loss of millions in federal funds they used to buy fresh produce. The Senate included in its sprinkle list $300,000 for an 'Intellectual Freedom Survey,' half for the State University System and half for the Florida College System. The survey is meant to 'compile and analyze the annual intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity survey.' The House included $7.5 million for Florida Polytechnic University to increase its enrollment to 3,000 students. Its fall 2024 enrollment was more than 1,770. The chambers agreed to fund $42.4 million to Florida State University for operational funding, the most of any institution. Florida International University would receive $35 million under the proposed budget for operation enhancement. Between the two chambers' sprinkle lists, $10 million has been allocated to security for Jewish day schools. In its Friday offer, the Senate rejected a House proposal to require private universities to meet performance metrics to accept scholarships for in-state students. The House included in its sprinkle list $4 million for Florida State University, half for the newly created Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases and half for Sunshine Genetics Pilot Program. In the sprinkle list, the Senate was more amenable to DeSantis' requests. Aside from including funds for the State Guard, the upper chamber also included $25 million for the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund, an initiative to encourage public infrastructure projects. In total, the budget includes $50 million out of the $75 million in DeSantis' proposed budget. Cancer funding has been a priority for the DeSantis administration which pushed this year for a number of changes to how the state funds cancer research. While the DeSantis administration fell short on its efforts to redirect $127 million in cancer funds it did succeed on other fronts. The Legislature agreed to appropriate $50 million for a research incubator for cancer and another $60 million increase in innovation funds awarded by the First Lady Casey DeSantis as part of her cancer initiative. The budget is complete but the tax reduction plan is not. Legislators are also expected to hammer out a tax cut package that will include a reduction in business rent taxes as well as other changes designed to assist Florida families. While the chambers have agreed to spending levels and the fine print that goes along with how the money should be spent they still haven't finalized the conforming bills. The Legislature is using budget conforming bills to pass substantive policy. Unlike the budget, which expires in a year, conforming bills change statutes. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lawmakers seal lean budget deal, aim for June 16 final vote
State lawmakers finally put the finishing touches on a drawn-out budget negotiation this year, agreeing to nearly $560 million in funding for projects and sealing deals on environmental and higher education funding. The move sets up a vote on the 2025-26 budget – delayed for more than a month over a standoff between House and Senate leaders over tax cuts – for June 16. Florida's constitution requires a 72-hour 'cooling off' period once the budget is made public before legislators can vote on it. A price tag for the total budget wasn't available the afternoon of June 13, but House budget chief Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, said it would be less than Gov. Ron DeSantis' proposal of $115.6 billion. The current year's budget is $118.6 billion. 'Choices have to be made, right? And we all come from different corners of this state with different experiences and different situations so that conversation took a little bit longer than expected,' McClure told reporters. 'Hopefully next year's legislature and future legislatures will be the beneficiaries, where otherwise they would have been making equally if not more difficult decisions than we did this year,' he added. The cuts include eliminating more than 1,000 vacant positions throughout the state government and setting aside $750 million per year into a key reserve fund. Not every portion of the budget, though, will see cuts. State workers will receive an across-the-board raise of 2%, and teachers and law enforcement will receive targeted raises, as will judges, state attorneys and public defenders. As part of the last-minute deals, lawmakers agreed to $560 million in special projects in what have come to be known as "sprinkle lists," a nickname from the idea that lawmakers are "sprinkling" extra money across the state. That includes $136.9 million to boost nursing home reimbursement rates, $23 million in operational funds for the Florida State Guard, $10 million for a cancer research fund supported by First Lady Casey DeSantis and $1.8 million for the Mary Brogan Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. Senate budget chief Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, said with President Donald Trump and other top federal officials talking about phasing out the Federal Emergency Management Agency, it was important to provide funding for the Florida State Guard to help state residents recover from future hurricanes. 'We heard yesterday from our friends in Washington after this hurricane season there may be no more FEMA. We may be on our own some day and that would not be the time to start thinking, 'Should we plan ahead?' ' Hooper said. 'The State Guard's an important part of making sure we have the resources.' Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, has said he wanted to cut expenses, concerned about a projected $7 billion shortfall in two years if current spending trends continued. But he clashed with Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, about how to do it. Perez's main priority was cutting the state sales tax from 6% to 5.25%, costing state coffers about $5 billion per year. Albritton initially refused to go along, concerned such a big cut would hamper the ability to fund vital programs for a growing state. The dispute pushed the budget negotiations past the original May 2 end date for the regular session. Then a 'framework' agreed to by Albritton and Perez to cut the sales tax to 5.75% was scuttled by DeSantis, who vowed to veto any tax cut plan that included an overall sales tax reduction. He was concerned such a move would crowd out his push for a property tax cut on the 2026 statewide ballot. When House and Senate negotiators went back to the drawing board, another framework for a tax cut deal emerged, with $1.6 billion in cuts. Those details still need to be worked out, but Hooper and McClure said they'd meet again to hash out a deal on the tax bill. Before the latest agreement, lawmakers knew they were pressed for time to pass a spending plan. The fiscal year ends June 30, and if a budget isn't in place by then, parts of state government may need to shut down. 'We knew that we had to come here to get where we are today because, come July 1, nobody wanted a government shutdown. Nobody wanted employees to be without a paycheck,' Hooper said. Lawmakers are poised to vote on the budget the evening of June 16. DeSantis, who has line-item veto authority, must still sign it into law by June 30. Given the fights with the Legislature, he could wield a heavy veto pen when he does. This is a developing news story and will be updated. Check back later for more. Gray Rohrer is a reporter with the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at grohrer@ Follow him on X: @GrayRohrer. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida lawmakers cut state budget deal, sets up June 16 vote
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Public education funding agreed to; policy still outstanding
The Stone Education building on the Florida State University campus is the home of its College of Education. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) In a time when the Legislature is trying to pare back the size of the state budget, lawmakers agreed this week to pump more than $29 billion into K-12 education, a $945 million increase over current year spending Per student funding would increase by $142.74, to $9,130, under a plan House and Senate budget conferees agreed to this week, a 1.59% increase from the current fiscal year. 'It's adequate, it's historic, it's all of the things. It's really good,' House budget chief Rep. Lawrence McClure said of per student funding. Much of the K-12 education budget increase, 71%, would be funded by local property taxes, Politico first reported. Florida's growing school choice program, in which state dollars can be used for private school tuition or homeschooling, has decreased public schools' share of enrollment. 'I think we can all agree that the public school population is declining. The schools still are open and operating, so that expense is there, and if there's fewer students being there then money comes from somewhere [else],' Senate budget chief Sen. Ed Hooper told reporters this week. The spending agreement was made as legislators met in an extended session dedicated to crafting a budget for state fiscal year 2025-26, which begins July 1. The extension was necessary because legislative leadership couldn't agree during the 60-day regular session on how much money to spend and ways to reduce taxes. As part of the K-12 agreement, the chambers agreed to allocate an extra $101.6 million toward teacher salary increases statewide, targeting an area Florida has lagged in. Last year, salary increase allocations went up by about $200 million. Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed about $250 million for teacher and personnel salary increases this year. According to the National Education Association, Florida is 50th in the nation for average teacher salaries. Accelerated courses like Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate were facing reduced funding under earlier proposals, but pushback from school officials and constituents made a difference. Ultimately, the programs are funded at a rate consistent with the current year, $596 million. The chambers have agreed to infuse an additional $6 million into the Schools of Hope program. Schools of Hope are charter schools opened near struggling schools. While lawmakers agreed to extend the session to address the budget, they have found creative ways to use the spending blueprint to readdress substantive legislation that died during the regular 60-day session. That policy-focused legislation will be included in what's called a 'conforming bill.' Unlike the budget, which expires in a year, conforming bills make permanent changes to statutes. As of publication, a K-12 education conforming bill had not been released. The chambers have publicly discussed reviving a bill that died during the regular 60-day session to allow Schools of Hope to open inside persistently low-performing public schools or on the property. Lawmakers are looking to adjust how school choice scholarships are reimbursed as more students use the option. Throughout the session, school administrators and legislators expressed concerns about how and when money is paid to scholarship recipients or schools, saying it was impossible to track where some students were enrolled. 'Obviously, the accounting for the scholarships has not gone well. We're trying to come up with a way that the money does follow the child, the student, and instead of reporting quarterly I think we are going to report monthly,' Hooper said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Dead bills resurface in budget talks
Legislators are meeting in Tallahassee to hammer out the fiscal year 2025-26 budget and avoid a government shutdown before July 1 Florida legislators are using budget negotiations to revisit substantive legislation related to education and health care that didn't pass during the 2025 regular session. DeSantis' push to shakeup cancer funding could be in trouble in the House One House bill would have revised how low-performing schools are classified and how Schools of Hope can be started. HB 1267 passed the House on party lines; however; the Senate never took it up. The issue resurfaced in the budget conference on Tuesday when the House proposed to allow charter schools to open inside low-performing public schools. The budget document shared with the public outlining the House's offer didn't contain any additional details. The School of Hope program started in 2017 and allows charter schools to open near persistently low-performing schools. In 2023-2024, there were 51 persistently low-performing schools. The bill would've classified more schools as persistently low-performing by changing the definition. 'The House has been pretty consistent that we want students to have access to the best educational opportunities,' House budget chief Rep. Lawrence McClure told reporters Tuesday. The two chambers have already agreed to $6 million in nonrecurring funding for Schools of Hope for the state fiscal year 2025-26 budget. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The House agreed to adopt a number of Senate-coveted issues related to nursing homes that were contained in SB 170, including requiring long-term care facilities to conduct patient safety and culture surveys at least once every two years. The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) would be required to include the results in its nursing home guide. Additionally, the House agreed with the Senate's proposal to require nursing home medical directors to obtain designation from the American Medical Director Association or to hold a comparable credential or be in the process of seeking those credentials by Jan. 1, 2026. The House agreed to the Senate's proposal to fine nursing homes or headquarters of nursing homes that don't submit their financial data to AHCA's financial reporting system. The Senate wants to amend the Medicaid law to include a $10,000 fine per violation. SB 170 was sponsored by Sen. Colleen Burton and was a priority for Senate President Ben Albritton. who fast-tracked it through the chamber, with the Senate passing the bill unanimously on April 9. But the House never considered the proposal. While the House has agreed to those nursing home-related issues in its conforming bill offer, technically they still aren't finalized because the Senate hasn't agreed with the House's offer. Conforming bills are budget-related bills that change substantive law to reflect spending decisions. Unlike the budget, which remains in effect for the state fiscal year, conforming bills change substantive law and remain in effect until the laws are changed. With no Medicaid expansion on horizon Florida lawmakers take on scope battles (again) The House also included in its Tuesday healthcare offer a proposal to expand the duties dental hygienists are allowed to perform. The House wants to amend the dental hygienist licensure laws to allow hygienists who practice under general supervision to use a dental diode laser to reduce or eliminate plaque in spaces between a tooth and the gums. Only hygienists who complete a 12-hour in-person course recognized by the Board of Dentistry or the American Dental Association would qualify. House Speaker Daniel Perez has championed giving dental hygienists a larger role in the health care system since he was a freshman. After seemingly rejecting the idea during the 2025 session, the House appears to have changed direction and is proposing to open up to other hospitals $127.5 million that has been, until now, dedicated solely to four National Cancer Institute-designated facilities: Moffitt Cancer Center; University of Florida Health Cancer Center; Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine; and Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. The House's proposal amends the statutory definition of cancer center to include community cancer centers accredited by the American College of Surgeons as a Comprehensive Community Cancer Program or Integrated Network Cancer Program, to qualify for the funds. It's not clear which hospitals would benefit from the change. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Florida House passes $5B tax reduction plan
Rep. Lawrence McClure and Speaker Daniel Perez discuss the budget impasse at a news conference April 24, 2025. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) The House on Friday voted, 78-29, to pass a $5 billion tax relief package, with most of the opposition involving changes to the collection of tourist development dollars. While it was a mostly partisan vote in support, the bill faces opposition from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has pushed for the elimination of property taxes and a $1,000 homeowner rebate, and Senate President Ben Albritton who has rolled out a more modest tax relief package. Disagreement over the breadth of tax relief is a primary reason the Legislature is unlikely to pass a state budget within the 60-day legislative session, scheduled to end on May 2. HB 7033 sponsor Rep. Wyman Duggan called the proposed tax reduction historic. 'It's record breaking. It's historic. It's permanent. It's immediate. Every citizen in the state will benefit from it,' he said. Specifically, the bill would lower Florida's state sales tax rate by 0.75%, to 5.25%. The bill would reduce all other sales tax rates by the same amount — commercial rent from 2% to 1.25%; electricity from 4.35% to 3.6%; new mobile home purchases from 3% to 2.25%; and coin-operated amusement machines from 4% to 3.25%. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Most of the criticism on the floor centered around the changes to the tourist development tax, known as the 'hotel bed tax.' Florida law authorizes counties to levy five separate tourist development taxes for specified purposes, all of which are generally related to the tourism industry. These taxes cover a bevy of uses — financing stadiums; operating convention centers; funding tourism development councils; and promoting publicly owned zoological parks among them. These are levied in 62 of the state's 67 counties with total combined rates ranging from a low of 2% to a high of 6%, according to a legislative analysis of the bill. HB 7033 redirects the use of tourist development taxes away from tourism-related efforts to the county's general revenue coffers instead. The bill directs the funds to be used to offset county property taxes beginning in 2026. Rep. Allison Tant, who represents parts of Leon, Jefferson, and Madison counties, said the tax receipts are vital to those counties, none of which offer the beaches that beckon so many tourists to Florida. Rather, those counties rely on bed taxes to market the wonder of rural Florida — the 'part of our state you don't see in fancy brochures on the turnpike or inexpensive ads on TV.' 'Pulling tourism development tax dollars from this effort will not just further starve fiscally constrained counties, but also punish them for their self-sufficiency,' Tant said. It's record breaking. It's historic. It's permanent. It's immediate. Every citizen in the state will benefit from it. – Rep. Wyman Duggan While he has support of his chamber, Perez's ambitious $5 billion reduction doesn't have the support of his counterpart, Senate President Albritton. The disagreement is a major reason the House and Senate couldn't agree on the total dollar amount in spending for the state fiscal year 2025-26 and won't pass a spending plan before the end of the 60-day session. Albritton is on board with tax relief but he has floated a more modest $2.1 billion tax plan, centered around a permanent elimination of the sales tax on clothing and shoes costing $75 or less. Other parts of his plan include a permanent reduction in the business rent tax from 2% to 1%, a one-time credit for vehicle registration fees, and several sales tax holidays. DeSantis opposes the House plan but not because of the price tag. The governor has proposed his own $5 billion cut starting with providing homeowners a $1,000 property tax rebate. From there, DeSantis wants to permanently eliminate property taxes, which would take voter approval and couldn't be done before November 2026. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
