By Jim Turner | News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — State lawmakers often assert that their single required task to complete before the end of the annual 60-day legislative session is to approve a budget for the next fiscal year.
But this year’s mission, slated to come to a close next Friday, will go into overtime, House and Senate conceded this week.
BUDGET BEDLAM
Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, outlined Thursday that ongoing budget talks have stalled over “philosophical differences” primarily regarding the chambers’ disparate tax-relief plans.
“I am disappointed to report we have not yet reached an agreement on allocations with the House,” Albritton said.
House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, blamed the Senate for favoring “pathological overspending,” as the legislative leaders try to reach an accord.
As of Friday, it remained uncertain if the 60-day legislative session would be extended by a few days to zero out budget disagreements or if lawmakers would take more time off before returning to the Capitol to complete their work before the fiscal year ends on July 1.
To end the session as scheduled on May 2, lawmakers would need to finish drawing up the budget by Tuesday. The Florida Constitution requires a 72-hour “cooling off” period before the spending plan could be approved.
The House and Senate passed budget proposals this month with a more than $4 billion gap. The House’s proposal totaled $112.95 billion, while the Senate’s weighed in at $117.36 billion.
In a blistering speech Thursday, Perez blamed the Legislature in recent years of being “addicted to spending” and accused the Senate of being unwilling to inch closer to the House’s leaner budget proposal.
“The Senate’s expectation seems to be that the House should adopt the Senate budget with only slight modifications,” Perez said. “That position is not only unacceptable but it is patronizing.”
Proposed tax cuts also have posed a major difference between the chambers.
The House has proposed a tax package (HB 7033) totaling about $5 billion, with the cuts largely stemming from a plan to permanently reduce the state’s sales-tax rate from 6 percent to 5.25 percent.
The Senate, meanwhile, has proposed a $1.83 billion tax-cut package (SB 7034) that includes eliminating sales taxes on clothing and shoes that cost $75 or less. The Senate plan also would provide a one-time credit on annual vehicle-registration fees and offer a series of sales-tax “holidays,” including a new tax cut on hunting equipment that would last more than three months.