Officially, the Florida Legislature is scheduled to close the 2025 session on Friday, May 2nd.
“It’s not happening. There’s so much tension between my Florida home, the state senator and the governor’s office, so no, the session won’t end as planned.”
Tax reduction
One hurdle is the difference in tax cut proposals between the House and Senate. The House of Representatives wants to lower the current 6% sales tax to 5.25%. Sales tax reductions also apply to commercial rent tax, electricity bills, sales rates for new mobile homes, and rates for coin-operated amusement machines.
The Florida Senate tax system is popular, but it’s far lighter than the House proposal. Senate leaders will extend sales tax holidays, including tax holidays back to school, and permanently eliminate sales taxes on clothing and shoes under $75.
Observers should note that Senate Speaker Albritton has a bit of caution when dealing with tax cuts for Florida. “Cutting taxes is hardly going to work if they have to lift on the roads,” he said.
Budget proposal
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The difference between the two chambers in the state budget is about $3 billion. Reports show that negotiations between the House and Senate were less positive.
“The Senate’s hope is that the House should adopt the Senate budget with just a small revision. That position is not only unacceptable, but it is loved,” said Florida House Speaker Danny Perez.
“The budget negotiation process this year has been very different than it has been in the past few years,” said Casey Cook, director of the Legislative Bureau of the Florida Urban Federation.
Cook said that topline budget allocations are usually negotiated during the seventh week of the session, while budget chairs meet between meetings in the eighth week and negotiated. Topline allocations are still under controversy this year.
“Budget negotiations are likely to involve policy exchanges, making it difficult to determine which bills are really alive or dead,” Cook said.
