House, Senate leaders agree on budget outline

TALLAHASSEE — House and Senate leaders struck a deal Tuesday on the broad outline of a budget after a topsy-turvy day at the Capitol, clearing the way for negotiations that could allow the session to end as scheduled on May 5.

The deal capped off nearly two weeks of talks between H o u s e S p e a k e r R i c h a r d Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, and Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart.

Lawmakers now have about a week to reach agreement on details and then allow for a constitutionally required 72-hour “cooling off ” period before the final day of the session.

Sen. Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican in line to become Senate president after the 2018 elections, confirmed late Tuesday that there was a deal between the two sides after behind-the-scenes negotiations.

Legislative leaders were still looking over the final numbers late Tuesday before officially announcing the package.

The final size of the budget, which would cover the year beginning July 1, was expected to be around $83 billion, roughly halfway between the House’s $81.2 billion plan and the Senate’s $85.1 billion proposal.

In a sign that Gov. Rick Scott’s priorities were in trouble, his office quickly pushed back on reports that Visit Florida, which markets the state’s tourism industry, would get less money than requested.

Ben Watkins, director of the state Division of Bond Finance, sent a letter to lawmakers arguing that failing to promote tourism could affect the state’s bond rating.

“A significant part of the state’s credit rating is dependent on the strength of our economy,” Watkins wrote. “Investments in promoting tourism (have) been an important investment in growing our economy and creating jobs, contributing to healthy revenue growth.”

Scott had asked for lawmakers to set aside $76 million for Visit Florida before the session, increasing that number to $100 million in recent weeks.

With the House and Senate reaching a deal on the budget’s basic contours, known as “allocations,” negotiating committees featuring members of both chambers were set to start hammering out details on specific areas of the spending plan.

Later, the budget chiefs on both sides and, eventually, Corcoran and Negron would take over if lawmakers struggle to reach an agreement.

Simply clearing away the clash over allocations was enough to create a sense of optimism that the Legislature’s GOP majorit y could avoid needing overtime to complete the budget for the second time in three years. A day earlier, the sides were hammering each other after talks stalled over the weekend.