It’s crunch time for Florida lawmakers now that just two weeks remain before the tentative May 3 end to the 2019 Legislative Session.
Budget conferencing — from a public perspective — likely will begin early next week. The negotiating process is designed to bring lawmakers together on a 2019-20 fiscal year spending plan.
The budget is the only thing the Legislature is required to pass each year. The chief players in that process are budget subcommittee chairs and each chamber’s budget heads, Sen. Rob Bradley and Rep. Travis Cummings. Senate President Bill Galvano and House Speaker José Oliva will handle anything that can’t otherwise be settled.
With those negotiations looming, the Senate this week amended a number of bills to bring them in line with the House. Policy matters, just like the budget, are negotiable and carry weight.
For example, the Senate made considerable changes to health care reforms moving through the chamber that had previously been at odds with what Oliva has championed. The Speaker has made it a priority to reduce costs by overhauling aspects of the health care system.
Eliminating the state’s “certificate of need” process for health providers practically sailed through the House earlier in Session. The idea met resistance in the Senate, but this week an amendment to a previously watered-down Senate plan (SB 1712) matched it with the House’s bill. The Senate is ready to act on that bill on the floor.
Also primed for full consideration is a bill (SB 1528) that would create two importation programs for prescription drugs from Canada. The House backed that idea — expected to lower patient costs — last week.
“I’ve been very encouraged by the movement that there’s been over there,” Oliva said this week, referencing the Senate.