The state budget for next year won’t be complete until at least later in May.
Florida legislative leadership already announced last week that the budget won’t be done by the session’s scheduled end on Friday.
That means lawmakers will have to come back to Tallahassee to get the job done. When that will happen is still unknown.
But it won’t be next week.
“We're putting together a framework for a budget, and I'm optimistic that we'll have more news to share very soon,” said Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, on Thursday. “For your planning purposes, you do not need to plan on being here next week.”
The budget is the only bill lawmakers must pass every year. Gov. Ron DeSantis needs to sign it before July 1, the start of the new fiscal year.
ALSO READ: Florida House and Senate approve budgets with big differences to resolve
The chambers have a lot to figure out. The Senate and House have different proposed budget sizes, with the House’s being smaller.
Additionally, both chambers want to minimize the sales tax but disagree on how much.
House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, wants across-the-board permanent reductions and says the Senate is trying to overspend. Albritton prefers more targeted cuts, worried about being able to pay for critical services down the line.
If you have any questions about the legislative session, you can ask the Your Florida team by clicking here.
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
