Florida's Latest News

Budget disagreement will extend post-session for at least a week

The Florida Legislature will not vote on a budget for at least another 10 days, as leaders of each chamber say they’re still working on a deal.

The legislative session is set to end Friday but, without agreement on the only bill lawmakers must pass, they will have to come back to Tallahassee before July 1 to fund the government for the next fiscal year.

“We continue to have productive conversations with the House. We’re putting together a framework for a budget, and I’m optimistic that we’ll have more news to share very soon,” Senate President Ben Albritton told senators Thursday morning, adding that they need not plan on being in Tallahassee next week.

The two chambers started about $4.4 billion apart on total spending, reflecting different philosophies on tax cuts.

The initial House proposal targeted permanent sales tax cuts, while the initial Senate proposal emphasized sales tax cuts on inexpensive clothing and shoes plus tax holidays and a study on future property tax relief. Gov. Ron DeSantis has his own ideas, preferring a massive property tax rebate ahead of elimination of the tax through a ballot measure next year.

At first House talk on property tax relief, not all ideas win praise; one is laughed out of the room

Members of a new House Select Committee on Property Taxes convened for their first meeting to discuss five proposals Speaker Daniel Perez proffered as a “springboard” for talks on delivering relief to Florida homeowners.

Some were more popular than others. One was summarily rejected as “a really bad idea.”

The panel, led by Chairs Vicki Lopez and Toby Overdorf, first went over the key concepts, definitions and structures by which property taxes are administered in the state.

Overdorf, a Palm City Republican, said that when it comes to finding solutions that fit state and local demands, “everything is on the table.”

He noted a sharp rise in property tax rates in recent years. In 2015, collections by counties, municipalities, school districts and certain independent special districts were about $28.3 billion.

By 2020, however, they had increased to $37.7 billion. Since then, they grew by another $17.5 billion.

School safety package ready for Governor’s signature

A bill sponsors say will enhance school safety measures has earned a second unanimous vote, moving to the Governor’s desk for signature.

Zephyrhills Republican Sen. Danny Burgess sponsored the bill (SB 1740). It was sent back to the Senate after the House amended it to make several changes.

“This is the school safety package that we passed off the floor,” Burgess said. “The House has added an amendment that authorizes child care facilities to partner with law enforcement or security agencies to assign safe schools officers with full responsibility for training and implementation costs to the Guardian Program.”

The House amendment also clarified that temporary door locks may be used during active assailant incidents, while replacing school supervision hours with a fixed window that is currently in law that deals with 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after a school day begins or ends.

“It also removes provisions clarifying the use of K9s by district-employed law enforcement,” Burgess said. “But they did retain in our bill provisions to strengthen school safety across Florida with common sense reforms that reflect input from schools, law enforcement, and state agencies.”

Zoning bill ready for Governor’s desk after impact fee haggling between Senate and House

The Legislature has passed new limitations on zoning restrictions imposed by local governments. But the final language introduces changes to impact fee rules that could disrupt how calculations are done across the state.

The Senate passed the final bill (SB 1080) on a 29-8 vote, taking up changes made in the House.

Sen. Stan McClain, an Ocala Republican, said the legislation preserves three major policies already there when the Senate passed the bill earlier this week.

The legislation “streamlines comprehensive plan, amendment process, closes a loophole on extra student mitigation fees, and defines extraordinary impact fee language and processes,” he said.

But an amendment put on the measure by Rep. Toby Overdorf, a Palm City Republican, includes House language relating to final approval of comprehensive land-use plans, and also allows for use of fees and fines under the building code fund related to final permits.