When lawmakers begin budget conference talks Tuesday, a couple of priorities of Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, and House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, likely will already be off the table.
Lawmakers aren't expected to approve Albritton's "rural renaissance" plan, which seeks to bolster health care, education, transportation and economic development in rural areas, or Perez's push to reduce the state's overall sales-tax rate.
Senate spokeswoman Katie Betta said in an email Monday that Albritton intends to revive the rural proposal next year.
"The president remains committed to passing the legislation when the Legislature returns in early 2026," Betta wrote.
Albritton's proposal included such things as $25 million for mobile health-care units and telehealth kiosks; $25 million to help physicians and advanced registered nurse practitioners start practices in rural areas; a program to help teachers in rural communities pay student loans; $50 million to assist "farm to market" road projects; and $50 million that fiscally constrained counties could use mostly for public safety and infrastructure.
The Senate passed the proposal in March, but the House put pieces of the plan in different bills. The proposal — and an overall budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year — did not pass before the scheduled May 2 end of the legislative session.
After weeks of behind-the-scenes talks, Albritton and Perez announced Friday night they had reached agreement on a framework that will allow conference committees to start hammering out details of the budget and related bills Tuesday.
Betta said Albritton and Sen. Corey Simon, a Tallahassee Republican who sponsored the rural-renaissance bill, had a call with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to discuss expanding parts of the proposal on a national scale.
They are looking forward to working with USDA in the interim to make this legislation a reality not only here in Florida, but across the nation," Betta wrote.
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Perez, meanwhile, pushed a plan this spring to reduce the state sales-tax rate from 6 percent to 5.25 percent, which would have totaled roughly $5 billion. The Senate, however, did not go along with the idea, proposing more modest tax cuts.
On May 2, the two House and Senate appeared to reach a budget deal that included a $2.8 billion tax-cut proposal, with $1.6 billion going toward reducing the sales-tax rate. But that potential deal blew up, and Gov. Ron DeSantis argued the state should cut property taxes, not sales taxes.
The framework announced Friday night in memos from Albritton and Perez includes a $900 million tax cut through eliminating a tax on commercial leases, a longtime priority of business lobbyists. It also includes what the memos described as $350 million in "permanent sales tax exemptions targeted towards Florida families," $250 million in debt reduction and $750 million in annual payments into a state rainy-day fund.
The memos did not explain what the $350 million in sales-tax exemptions would include. Betta on Monday said any tax cuts would be discussed by budget leaders separately from the conference committee negotiations, which are expected to last from Tuesday to Thursday.
DeSantis wants to ask voters in 2026 to increase the homestead exemption or eliminate property taxes for homesteaded property owners. Betta said a study on the future of property taxes remains important to the Senate and will be included in Senate proposals this week.
Perez has already formed a House select committee that will look at ways to cut property taxes.
After negotiations, lawmakers are expected to vote June 16 on the budget. The 2025-2026 fiscal year will start July 1.
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