By Jim Turner | News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers Wednesday continued slowly trying to bridge differences on a new state budget, with the House agreeing to a Senate stance on money for the Everglades and $104.5 million for citrus research.
The House moved off its initial proposal to spend $8 million on citrus research, which is a priority of Senate President Ben Albritton, a citrus grower from Wauchula.
Sen. Jason Brodeur, a Sanford Republican and chairman of the Agriculture, Environment, and General Government Appropriations Committee, said the spending is aimed at bolstering farmers in an industry that has been rocked by a series of hurricanes in recent years and by two decades of deadly citrus greening disease.
“One of the things that is tough about being in the citrus industry is it’s typically three, four, five years until you get a harvest,” Brodeur said. “With the state making this kind of statement, it’s saying to the citrus industry, ‘We love what you’ve done. We see the science. And we would love it if you would invest, because we will partner with you to mitigate some of that risk.’”
As for the Everglades, the House started at $165 million but matched the Senate by backing a series of projects that total $614 million, the same amount of money in the current fiscal year.
Among other issues, the House and Senate settled on spending $280 million for the My Safe Florida Home program, which includes $30 million that went unspent in the current fiscal year for a pilot program aimed at condominium owners.
The My Safe Florida Home program, which prioritizes senior citizens and low-income people, offers inspections and grants up to $10,000 to help residents upgrade homes and qualify for property-insurance discounts.
House and Senate conference committees met Tuesday and Wednesday to help negotiate a budget for the fiscal year that will start July 1. The committees held relatively few meetings Wednesday, and unresolved issues are scheduled to go Thursday afternoon to House Budget Chairman Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, and Senate Appropriations Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Trinity.
The House and Senate were unable to reach agreement on a budget and tax cuts before the scheduled May 2 end of the legislative session. They returned to Tallahassee this week and are expected to have a spending plan finalized in time for June 16 votes.
McClure said Wednesday there has been “good dialogue” among leaders of the conference committees.
“I’m very pleased with the pace and the collaboration with the Senate,” McClure said.
“I think the (conference committee) chairs … they know they’re on a time certain,” added Hooper. “They have to bring their part in for a landing tomorrow (Thursday), and then we’ll get to tackle the remaining.”
Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, and House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, announced Friday they had reached agreement on a $900 million tax cut through eliminating a tax on commercial leases. Also they agreed on what was described as $350 million in “permanent sales tax exemptions targeted towards Florida families,”
But McClure and Hooper acknowledged Wednesday they had not sorted out details of the $350 million in cuts involving sales-tax exemptions.
“We’re having those conversations,” McClure told reporters. “I’m not avoiding you. We just haven’t ironed it out.”