Budget talks not ‘any closer’

House Speaker Daniel Perez. [Photo courtesy flhouse.gov]

As budget talks remain stalled, House Speaker Daniel Perez said on May 13 that the House has offered possibilities including a “lean, critical-needs budget with minimal spending and no tax cuts.”

But in a quest to lower state spending, the Miami Republican described a proposal by Gov. Ron DeSantis to send $1,000 checks to homeowners as an “irresponsible idea.”

With 97 of the 120 House members attending a brief session to extend the potential end date of this year’s legislative session, Perez said the House continues to make offers to the Senate about a tax package and a budget that must be completed by the July 1 start of the 2025-2026 fiscal year.

Perez has called for reducing the state’s sales tax rate but indicated Tuesday he is more focused on reducing spending. DeSantis, meanwhile, has pushed for property tax cuts.

“The sales tax cut was a means, not an end,” Perez said. “We will embrace any and all ideas that curb the state budget. We must stop leveraging Florida’s future needs by overspending on today’s wants.”

Perez later told reporters that he doesn’t think lawmakers are at risk of a government shutdown but also noted the talks aren’t “any closer than we were a few weeks ago.” The House passed a resolution that would allow the session to continue as late as June 30.

Perez said the House won’t be “intimidated” or “bullied” by the Senate or DeSantis. The governor, who has veto power, last week exacerbated a session-long feud with Perez by saying a sales tax rate reduction would kill any opportunity to cut property taxes and that it would be “dead on arrival” if included in a bill.

“Members, I know that all of you are tired, some of us are sick, and I’m sure some of you are thinking: even if we are right, wouldn’t it be easier to stop fighting?” Perez told House members Tuesday. “It would be. Giving up is always the easier path. After all, we could put the blame for the problem on past legislatures and push the responsibility for solving it onto future legislatures. And while that may be easy, it would also be wrong.”

The annual session was scheduled to end May 2 but had to be extended because the House and Senate did not agree on a budget. Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, indicated on May 2 that they had reached a “framework” that would include $2.8 billion in tax cuts, including reducing the sales tax rate.

But behind-the-scenes talks blew up last week, with Perez accusing Albritton of backing out of the agreement on the budget framework. That has left unresolved budget “allocations,” which determine how much overall money will go to areas such as education and health and human services. Allocations need to be set before conference committees can begin formally negotiating details of the budget.