{"id":194398,"date":"2026-03-17T02:50:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T02:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/194398\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T02:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T02:50:26","slug":"legislators-end-session-but-have-unfinished-business-tallahassee-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/194398\/","title":{"rendered":"Legislators End Session, But Have Unfinished Business \u2013 Tallahassee Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Gray Rohrer, Jim Turner, Ana Go\u00f1i-Lessan, The News Service of Florida<\/p>\n

The legislative session that began with a handshake snub ended Friday with a whimper, without a budget and without the traditional hanky drop ceremony.<\/p>\n

Despite the GOP\u2019s supermajority and Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 push for aggressive conservative bills, House and Senate leaders clashed over several issues and haven\u2019t entered formal budget negotiations.<\/p>\n

House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, have agreed to return in mid-April to finish the spending plan for the next fiscal year, but they haven\u2019t agreed to much else.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we met for a 60-day session and there\u2019s no budget, that\u2019s not the end of the world,\u201d Albritton told reporters. \u201cThere\u2019s still plenty of time to be able to get the budget accomplished, make sure that it\u2019s fair and equitable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perez, whom DeSantis avoided shaking hands with on the first day of session, continued his clash with the Governor, opting not to pass a pair of DeSantis\u2019 priority bills.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last year DeSantis and Perez feuded on tax cuts and a House probe into a scandal involving Hope Florida, an initiative championed by First Lady Casey DeSantis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Besides the budget, lawmakers will also return to the Capitol in April for a special session to redraw congressional districts. That session has already been called by DeSantis. And another session on property tax cuts, a priority for DeSantis, is likely to be called as well.<\/p>\n

DeSantis also saw his top priorities to ban mandates for vaccines for children entering public schools and to impose regulations on artificial intelligence companies falter in the Legislature.<\/p>\n

The Senate passed both bills but they didn\u2019t make it through the House. DeSantis chided Perez and House leaders for not taking up those measures, as well as pushing cuts to Everglades restoration projects and eliminating funding for the State Guard.<\/p>\n

He pledged to veto the budget and call lawmakers back to the Capitol if they passed a major cut to Everglades restoration projects. The budget, he said, should be done quickly, possibly by \u201ccutting and pasting\u201d what has been done in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t rocket science at this point,\u201d DeSantis said.<\/p>\n

DeSantis also took note of several other bills he championed that will head to his desk for his signature.<\/p>\n

Legislation to ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs and policies in local governments; require proof of citizenship to register to vote; allow DeSantis to designate groups as \u201cdomestic terrorist organizations\u201d; and raise the threshold for teacher unions to be recertified all cleared the Legislature over the objections of Democrats.<\/p>\n

And although DeSantis\u2019 \u2018AI Bill of Rights\u2019 proposal didn\u2019t pass, lawmakers on Friday approved bill putting restrictions on data centers, which are needed to power the burgeoning technology.<\/p>\n

The measure was part of DeSantis\u2019 agenda and received Democratic support, although some bemoaned the removal of a provision in the bill that restricted non-disclosure agreements between local governments and tech companies over the placement of data centers, shielding the proposals from the public for up to a year.<\/p>\n

Perez has insisted on spending less than the current $114.8 billion spending plan, and the House passed a $113.6 billion budget. The Senate prefers a $115 billion budget, and Perez and Albritton haven\u2019t agreed to topline spending numbers, the first step before formal negotiations between the chambers can begin.<\/p>\n

Democrats decried the Republican dysfunction, claiming little was done to address cost of living concerns of residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cFloridians don\u2019t care about the infighting. They don\u2019t care. They\u2019re not following that. All they know is that they have an affordability crisis,\u201d said House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell of Tampa. \u201cGas is too expensive, housing is too expensive, groceries, the cost of that is high, utilities as well, and they want solutions. They want a legislature that focuses on them, and that\u2019s not what happened this session.\u201d<\/p>\n

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