Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the “personal agenda” of legislators as budget talks won’t be handled before the regular session ends on Friday.
DeSantis, who has clashed on a variety of issues with House Speaker Daniel Perez over the past year, didn’t mention any names when asked Wednesday about the 2026-2027 fiscal year spending plan not being completed on time.
“In my experience watching, not just here in Florida, but elsewhere, I think these guys get in trouble when they get in (Washington) D.C. or get in Tallahassee, and then they pursue an agenda different than what they promised the voters,” DeSantis said Wednesday while in the Hamilton County town of White Springs.
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The House and Senate are expected to take time off before returning to work out the differences in their proposed spending plans.
The House has put forward a $113.6 billion package, about $1 billion less than the current budget that ends June 30. The Senate plan came in at $115 billion.
DeSantis said, “we’re going to make sure that it gets done.”
“It's important for people in Florida,” DeSantis said. “I think you got to do what's right for the people that sent you there. It's not about any personal agenda.”
Perez on Monday acknowledged that the budget wouldn’t be completed on time, pointing to “a fundamental disagreement on what the (overall) budget should look like.”
On Tuesday, Perez, R-Miami, said setting up the process for the two chambers to discuss the budget remained “a moving target.”
This is the second consecutive year that the two chambers have been unable to complete the fiscal plan by the end of the scheduled 60-day session.
The 2025 session required an extra 45 days as the House, the Senate and DeSantis tangled over tax cuts.
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DeSantis and Perez have been publicly at odds since disagreeing on the approach to immigration-enforcement during a series of special sessions ahead of the 2025 session.
Since then, House panels probed the Hope Florida program that is closely tied to First Lady Casey DeSantis and was involved in the transfer of Medicaid settlement money to a political committee in 2024.
Also, last year Perez pushed to reduce the state’s sales tax instead of going along with a DeSantis proposal to give property tax rebates.
DeSantis has already called for a special session on congressional redistricting for the week of April 20 and another special session is anticipated on a constitutional amendment asking voters in November to reduce taxes on some homesteaded properties.
The House approved a property tax proposal (HJR 203) to eliminate non-school homestead taxes, but the Senate hasn’t put forward an alternative measure.
