The House and Senate approved their spending plans for the upcoming fiscal year shortly after passing the halfway point of the 2019 Legislative Session.
The Senate unanimously backed its $90.3 billion budget one day before the House approved its $89.9 billion spending plan with only a handful of “no” votes.
Lawmakers in both chambers will now begin conferencing, with the goal of sending an agreed-upon budget to Gov. Ron DeSantis before the planned May 3 end to the 2019 Legislative Session.
The Legislature is required to pass a budget each year to submit to the Governor.
Both budget chairs Sen. Rob Bradley and Rep. Travis Cummings appear confident they will be able to work through the $400 million difference between the spending plans.
But there are some stark discrepancies.
The House, for example, wants to sweep $200 million from the Sadowski Trust Fund, which sends dollars for affordable housing projects to local governments. The Senate, meanwhile, wants to fully fund the coffer.
The Senate has proposed a major increase — $1.1 billion — in funding for the Florida Education Finance Program, the primary operating pool for the state’s 67 school districts. The House’s proposed increase is about $520 million less.
The House has moved forward with a series of cuts that are not included in the Senate spending plan, including across-the-board reductions to health care services. It wants to cut by $39 million inpatient and outpatient Medicaid reimbursement rates. It also wants to cut $3.7 million in state spending on hospital exemption payments and reduce $1.9 million currently set aside for health care positions that have been vacant for more than 180 days.
Those cuts, along with a House plan to reduce university spending, are not included in the Senate budget.
As conferencing begins, expect to see compromises from both chambers on these issues.
