But that was last year. Heading into Perez\u2019s second and final session in charge of Republicans\u2019 agenda in the House, the dynamic has changed, and Perez may be the odd man out.<\/p>\n
Perez, 38, says his relationship with the governor \u2014 who he says isn\u2019t returning his calls \u2014 remains icy. And he doesn\u2019t seem optimistic about his once-warm relationship with Senate President Ben Albritton following a blowup<\/a> last year over taxes and spending that appeared to push the leader of the Legislature\u2019s upper chamber closer to the governor.<\/p>\n With Florida\u2019s legislative session beginning Tuesday, that evolving power dynamic is a wildcard that could affect the state\u2019s ability to lock in more than $100 billion in spending, address the pressing problems facing Floridians and set in stone some of the GOP\u2019s priorities, like drawing new congressional districts and cutting property taxes.<\/p>\n More than a dozen interviews with Republican members of the Legislature and players in the political process revealed just how fraught the relationship between the House speaker and Senate president remains \u2014 though both say they are looking forward.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be a tough environment,\u201d Perez told the Herald\/Times this week in an interview. \u201cIt\u2019s just a matter of having a willing and able partner, which, right now, doesn\u2019t seem like something that\u2019s feasible.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s office didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, hands Florida Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, the gavel during the first day of the legislative session at the Florida State Capitol on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Tallahassee, Fla.<\/p>\n Priorities and Politics<\/p>\n Just like last year, Perez, a lawyer by trade, is playing his cards close to the vest.<\/p>\n He has no legacy bill that he is shepherding through the process. He says he believes the state has put the necessary changes in place to fix Florida\u2019s property insurance crisis. And he has resisted calls from cash-strapped condo owners to overhaul the building-safety law he championed after the fall of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside.<\/p>\n His main goal, he says, is to pass a conservative budget that is smaller than last year\u2019s, potentially setting up another difficult negotiation with the Senate, which is concerned with revenue shortfalls.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will be the first time that there will be a back-to-back cut in the budget coming out of the House since the recession,\u201d Perez said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re proud to voluntarily take that task on.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to discern what measures Perez personally wants to pass. He isn\u2019t sharing his preferences. And while he is addressing the governor\u2019s priorities of redistricting and reducing property taxes, both issues have succumbed to the committee process with multiple proposals and much debate.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to that proposal if he were to ever have one,\u201d Perez said of DeSantis\u2019 desire to do away with property taxes for Florida residents with homestead exemptions on their primary residences. \u201cAnd then I\u2019m sure the Senate will soon thereafter follow his lead, so we\u2019ll have that conversation at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n Just a year ago, the House and Senate appeared to be in lockstep, with DeSantis suddenly struggling to bend the Florida Legislature to his will.<\/p>\n That was clear before Florida\u2019s regular 2025 legislative session. When DeSantis called for a special session on immigration, they called their own and passed legislation that they championed and he panned<\/a>. Those battle lines appeared to persist when the House and Senate announced a plan for a state budget that would include billions in tax relief.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m pleased to share with you that we have reached a framework for a budget plan,\u201d Albritton said on the Senate floor on May 2. \u201cAs part of our agreement with the House, we will take up the most historic tax relief package in the history of our state.\u201d<\/p>\n But Albritton says his Senate colleagues balked when it came time to whip votes on Perez\u2019s specific plan to cut $5 billion from Florida\u2019s sales tax as the policy was publicly denounced by the governor. He called Perez several days later and told him the Senate didn\u2019t go for it.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t make the Senate do anything,\u201d Albritton told the Herald\/Times about the outcome.<\/p>\n![\"Florida](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0460064d6f6277ba09bbb547fa378888.jpeg\"\/)
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