Florida House Votes to Extend Session
The Florida House voted to extend the session through June 30. The Senate has not yet voted, as budget discussions between chambers are still ongoing.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida House members returned to Tallahassee last week and voted to extend the potential end date of this year’s legislative session to as late as June 30.
The Senate, however, did not return to Tallahassee and have not voted on a similar extension – yet. That could change, according to a memo Senate President Ben Albritton sent to his members yesterday afternoon. Here is a portion of his comments:
“Over the past week, Chair Hooper and I have continued to have productive discussions with our partners in the House on joint budget allocations. I believe we are making progress; however, we are not in a position to begin budget conference next week.”
‘Senators do not need to return to Tallahassee prior to Memorial Day. We plan to announce further scheduling updates mid-week, before the Holiday Weekend to provide as much advanced notice as possible.”
The biggest obstacle in the negotiations continues to be the differing perspectives each legislative body, and the governor, have regarding tax relief. While the House is seeking a reduction to the state sales tax, the Senate wants to lessen sales tax on clothing and continue several sales tax holidays. The governor wants to eliminate property taxes and continue exporting a portion of Florida’s revenue needs to out-of-state visitors.
While the budget outlook is currently uncertain, stakeholders remain cautiously optimistic that lawmakers will arrive at a budget deal before the state’s next fiscal year begins on July 1.
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