TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida lawmakers were working late Sunday trying to hammer out agreements on the state’s budget, coming closer to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ budget priorities but still leaving many issues unsettled.
Representatives and senators held meetings to pass offers back and forth on education, the environment, prisons, transportation and other issues. Meetings continued into Sunday night and others were scheduled for Monday morning.
What’s clear is that lawmakers won’t finish their annual 60-day session on time Friday. But it’s still unclear when a final budget agreement will be ready.
On Sunday, the House raised its proposals on environmental issues to match or exceed what DeSantis originally requested in November. The House is agreeing to $100 million for the Florida Forever land conservation program, the amount that DeSantis proposed, and $650 million for Everglades restoration and water quality improvement projects, or $25 million above the governor’s request.
The House originally proposed $25 million for the Florida Forever program, which upset environmentalists. Republican Rep. Holly Raschein emphasized the new proposal when she announced it.
“We’ve agreed to fund Florida Forever at $100 million. Let me repeat that: We have agreed to fund Florida Forever at $100 million, so the emails can stop,” Raschein said. Observers in the committee room laughed and applauded.
And just when it looked like the House and Senate agreed to spend $500 million on teacher raises - $100 million shy of what DeSantis wants - the Senate came back on Sunday to increase its proposal to $600 million to match the governor.
“We’re still trying meet the goal of the governor of trying to hit that minimum salary for our teachers,” said Republican Sen. Kelli Stargel.
DeSantis wants the statewide minimum teacher salary to be set at $47,500.
Anything that the budget conference committees doesn’t settle before 1 p.m. Monday will be pushed up to the chambers’ budget chairs, Republican Sen. Rob Bradley and Republican Rep. Travis Cummings. Anything the chairmen can’t agree on will be pushed up to Republican House Speaker Jose Oliva and Republican Senate President Bill Galvano.
The two chambers entered budget negotiations $1.4 billion apart, with the Senate writing a $92.8 billion spending plan, and the House preparing a $91.4 billion budget that was close in total spending to DeSantis’s proposal.
Lawmakers already have said they’ll need extra time to finish the budget, as they did last year. Once there is a final agreement, lawmakers must wait 72 hours before they can vote on the spending plan.
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