House Speaker Daniel Perez says it鈥檚 鈥渓ooking tough鈥� for Florida lawmakers to complete a budget by the end of next week, the scheduled end of the legislative session.
鈥淲e're still having conversations in the hopes of eventually getting closer,鈥� Perez said on Wednesday afternoon. 鈥淲e have a fundamental disagreement on what the budget should look like.鈥�
The Senate鈥檚 proposal is around $115 billion, which is nearly $1.5 billion more than what the House wants.
鈥淚 don't think that I'm very flexible on wanting to spend more money,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd it's not just about the overall number. I think it's also about how it's spent. But we aren't even at that part of the conversation yet.鈥�
He continued: 鈥淲e aren't talking about specific allocations. We're talking about the bigger number, and that's something that, although we are still conversing, it is a very light and short conversation that I wish would move faster.鈥�
, lawmakers extended the session by a month and a half to figure out a budget and tax package. If the budget鈥檚 not done on time again, legislative leadership could also decide to call a special session for the budget.
鈥淎 decision has not been made,鈥� Perez said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis a late April special session for potential redistricting.
The only thing the state Constitution requires lawmakers to do each year is pass a budget. If the budget isn't law by July 1, the state government enters into a partial shutdown, which has never happened.
If you have any questions about state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team .
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
