Leaders agree on Florida budget

Legislative session will be extended

TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers will extend their annual session to pass an $87 billion-plus state budget that includes a $101.50 increase in perstudent funding for public schools.

House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, said Wednesday that legislative leaders had reached agreement on the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. One of the last issues to be resolved was funding for hospitals and nursing homes.

His announcement came after House and Senate negotiators failed to finish a budget before a Tuesday deadline, forcing an extension of the 60-day legislative session, which had been scheduled to end Friday.

Corcoran and Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, said they have not worked out the timing of the session extension, which will likely mean a final vote on the annual appropriations bill Sunday afternoon or Monday.

The budget bill must be published, then lawmakers must wait 72 hours before the final vote under a constitutionally mandated “cooling off ” period.

Senate Appropriations

Chairman Rob Bradley, RFleming Island, said the last major issue settled was a deal securing $40 million in state funds, which can be matched with $60 million in federal funding, for nursing homes.

Lawmakers also settled a dispute over a funding formula distributing Medicaid payments to Florida hospitals.

Although the specific details had not been released, Bradley cited a number of accomplishments in the new budget, including $100 million for the Florida Forever environmental land-buying program and $400 million for a school-safety initiative, which will provide more mental health services and security officers for schools.

He said the budget will include a tax-cut package, which is expected to be in the range of $80 million, and will include more than $50 million to address the opioid crisis.

Although state workers will not receive a general pay raise, the budget includes pay increases for state law enforcement officers, assistant state attorneys, state firefighters, assistant public defenders and probation and detention officers in the Department of Juvenile Justice, Bradley said.

He said there would be “record” funding for the state university system and public schools. The $21 billion public school budget will include a per-student funding increase of $101.50, he said.

The budget includes a permanent expansion of Bright Futures scholarships for students at universities and state colleges, including allowing the merit aid to be used to attend summer classes.

However, without the appropriations bill actually being published, the budget deal technically remained open for adjustments Wednesday, with some lawmakers speculating that it was being used as leverage to sway some reluctant House members as they debated a contentious school-safety bill (SB 7026). The House passed the bill 67-49 Wednesday evening.

“In my opinion, it’s because they are wrangling votes over there” in the House, said Senate Minority Leader Oscar Braynon, DMiami Gardens.

Bradley said he could not speculate on House actions, while saying “there were no carrots or sticks with regards to the budget” in the Senate debate over the school-safety bill, which passed in a 20-18 vote earlier in the week. He said the budget delay was caused by differences over the health-care spending.