House and Senate budget leaders Monday rushed to finalize a new state spending plan, while Gov. Ron DeSantis continued calling for giving property-tax rebates.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Trinity, and House Budget Chairman Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, swapped budget offers during an afternoon meeting and were scheduled to meet again early Monday evening.
As an example, McClure said they had agreed to spend $25 million on the state's Job Growth Grant Fund, which the governor can use for regional infrastructure projects or workforce training.
Meanwhile, the Senate continued to target eliminating 334 vacant positions within the Department of Commerce, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the Department of State, the Department of Transportation and the Division of Emergency Management. The House proposed eliminating 513 positions at those agencies.
House and Senate conference committees began formal negotiations on the budget last week, with unresolved issues going to Hooper and McClure on Thursday. They didn't meet publicly over the weekend but said behind-the-scenes work continued.
Hooper indicated one of the issues this year is the end of a torrent of federal money that came to the state because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This gentleman and I probably talked, what, 25 times the last two days, some face to face, some by telephone, some by text," Hooper said of talks with McClure. "We're trying to be respectful of each chamber. We're trying to be fair with the dollars we have. And we're trying to come up with a budget that does everything we need to do, but at a price that --- as we stated earlier --- the goal is for our projected revenue that we know that COVID and post COVID numbers are not ever going to be there again. And I think that's what we're accomplishing."
McClure added, "Sounds right."
The goal is to get the budget finished this week, along with accompanying bills that will include a tax package. Lawmakers then could vote early next week in advance of the July 1 start of the state fiscal year.
DeSantis has repeatedly called for providing a property-tax rebate to homesteaded property owners and then going to voters next year with a proposal to cut or eliminate property taxes. He reiterated that position Monday during an appearance in Wakulla County.
"I want to do a property tax rebate this year. We're working with the Senate on the budget, on getting that through," DeSantis said. "I think that's really important for people."
But Hooper and McClure said they haven't been involved in such talks about a property-tax rebate.
"I have not seen any formal proposal for any property tax," Hooper said. "I'm assuming that discussion is going on between the governor's office and maybe the (House) speaker and the (Senate) president."
Asked if the House would go along, McClure replied, "I've got to see a proposal."
House and Senate leaders on May 30 jointly released a framework for a $2.25 billion tax package that did not include property-tax rebates. The package included a $900 million tax cut through eliminating a tax on commercial leases, a longtime priority of business lobbyists. The framework also includes what leaders described in memos as $350 million in undefined "permanent sales tax exemptions targeted towards Florida families," $250 million in debt reduction and $750 million in payments into a state rainy-day fund.
DeSantis has previously called for $1,000 rebates but did not give specific figures Monday.
Legislators could craft a proposed constitutional amendment during the 2026 legislative session to put a property-tax cut on the ballot. But one of the most closely watched issues would be how lost property-tax revenues would affect local governments.
On Monday, DeSantis estimated that about 30 rural "fiscally constrained" counties would need state assistance if voters approve changes to the homestead property-tax structure.
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