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Florida budget talks stall as House Speaker warns of possible extended session

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Published  May 10, 2025 12:36am EDT
Politics
FOX 35 Orlando
Florida budget talks stall as House Speaker warns of extended session

Florida budget talks stall as House Speaker warns of extended session

Florida lawmakers may be headed for overtime as budget negotiations between the House and Senate hit a roadblock, with House Speaker Daniel Perez warning Thursday that an extension of the legislative session may itself be extended.

The Brief

    • Florida lawmakers remain deadlocked over the state budget, with tax relief proposals at the center of the dispute.
    • House Speaker Daniel Perez warned the session may be extended further after the Senate refused to vote on a $5 billion sales tax cut.
    • Each extra day in session could cost taxpayers up to $60,000.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Florida lawmakers may be headed for overtime as budget negotiations between the House and Senate hit a roadblock, with House Speaker Daniel Perez warning Thursday that an extension of the legislative session may itself be extended.

What we know:

Budget negotiations in the Florida Legislature collapsed Friday after disagreements among House Speaker Daniel Perez, Senate President Ben Albritton, and Gov. Ron DeSantis over a proposed $2.8 billion tax-cut package. 

The House and Senate had appeared to agree on the plan as they extended the session on May 2, but the Senate has since pulled back, citing lack of support and concerns about long-term fiscal sustainability. DeSantis has also threatened to veto the plan, particularly criticizing a sales-tax cut as counterproductive to his priority: property-tax relief.

What we don't know:

It’s unclear when — or if — the House and Senate will return to the negotiating table with a unified tax and budget plan. There’s also uncertainty about how far DeSantis is willing to go to enforce his property-tax agenda and whether either chamber will yield ground to avoid a prolonged stalemate. The fate of Perez’s proposal and how much influence the governor’s opposition will ultimately have on the budget remain in flux.

The backstory:

Last month, the House passed a sweeping tax proposal including a reduction in the state sales-tax rate from 6% to 5.25%, which would amount to roughly $5 billion in cuts. 

Perez said the compromise plan on the table included $1.6 billion in sales-tax cuts. But Senate leaders never fully endorsed it and now argue that such broad-based cuts would have little impact for working families and seniors. Meanwhile, DeSantis — who has a history of tensions with Perez — has publicly slammed the proposal, saying it favors tourists over Florida residents.

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The Source: This story was written based on information shared by The News Service of Florida.

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