TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida could face a state government shutdown for the first time in recent history if lawmakers fail to strike a budget deal before the new fiscal year begins on July 1.
The consequences could be widespread. Much like the federal government shutdowns in recent years, the Sunshine State might halt state-funded services, furlough employees, and weaken Florida’s preparedness ahead of a looming hurricane season.
WATCH: DeSantis dismisses summit as budget crisis deepens in Tallahassee
Florida GOP Chair Evan Power is attempting to bridge the growing divide. Last Friday, Power proposed a summit to bring legislative leaders, relevant lawmakers, and the governor to resolve the key sticking point, tax cuts.
“If you look at what happened during the immigration debate, we came together at the end to pass the toughest immigration law in the country,” said Power.
Asked whether party members have responded to the summit invitation, Power replied:
“We have not. I mean, discussions are ongoing, obviously with a lot of different people,” said Power. "But you know, I just want to focus on the fact that I want Floridians to know that while we're having these discussions, it's historic in nature, because we're cutting taxes. We're giving it back to people. And I think that's been lost in some of this— this discussion on where we're going is the historic nature of where we are.”
Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL), however, rejected the summit idea on Monday. While he continues to promote a homestead rebate program, he emphasized that the budget is the responsibility of the Legislature.
“You don't need a summit to just keep doing what we've been doing. That’s not the role of the Republican Party of Florida and so, no, we're not going to do a dog and pony show. That's not the way this works. The way it works is people should do their jobs,” said DeSantis.
The summit pitch emerged after House Speaker Danny Perez (R-Miami) publicly accused the Senate of backing out of a previously agreed-upon “framework” for the budget, which included a $2.8 billion tax cut package, $1.6 billion of which would have been a recurring reduction to the sales tax.
“We've never seen something like this in the legislature. My goal is still to land a budget that is fiscally conservative and in line with the vision of the House. I believe eventually we will get there. It's just unfortunate that we are going backwards as opposed to moving forward,” Perez said.
In a call last Friday, Perez also directly criticized Senate President Ben Albritton (R-Bartow), saying his word now “has no value.”
Albritton responded in a memo defending the Senate’s withdrawal from the agreement, citing concerns that DeSantis would have vetoed the deal and that senators doubted Floridians would tangibly benefit from the sales tax reduction. Additionally, they feared cutting too much now could hinder future efforts to reduce property taxes.
The House is scheduled to reconvene Tuesday and plans to extend the session into June. However, the Senate has not agreed to this extension—yet another point of contention.
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