TALLAHASSEE—When Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested he would veto a sales tax cut debated by the House and Senate, it shoved the festering dysfunction between the two chambers into the open for all to see.
It was the tipping point in the already strained relationship between Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Danny Perez, who's drawn the ire of DeSantis since his inauguration late last year.
But as Albritton positions himself along the governor, triangulating Perez, and as lawmakers rush to hammer out a budget before the July 1 deadline, tensions—and confusion—have never been higher.
"This is the Twilight Zone," one Republican lobbyist familiar with the process told The Floridian. "I have no idea what's going to happen; there are no tea leaves to read. It's just, 'buckle up!'"
The source floated the idea of the state government shutting down, which could occur if lawmakers can't pass a budget by the constitution's July 1 deadline.
"This is unprecedented...negotiations are worse than you can imagine," the lobbyist added.
The public breakdown between the House and Senate was revealed Friday, days after DeSantis railed against Perez's plan to cut sales taxes—a proposal that the chambers were set to consider in the coming weeks of the overtime Session.
It was the final straw, causing the budget deal to "blow up," Perez to blame Albritton, and the House to suddenly announce that they'll meet next week to try and further extend the Session until the waning days of the fiscal year.
But the Senate won't sign off on it. At least, not yet.
"The President did not want to go to the expense of bringing the Senators to Tallahassee for a procedural motion," Katie Betta, Senate spokesperson, told The Floridian. "If further extension becomes necessary, it can be done at a later date when they are already here for the budget conference."
While Friday isn't the first example of the Capitol players' unstable relations, it's the loudest and tensest reveal of the discord in this year's negotiations. The latest case was the 54th day of the scheduled 60-day session, when Florida's Democratic Leader quit the party, Perez debuted his first criticisms of Albritton, and the Attorney General threatened legal action against a lawmaker.
All within the span of a few hours.
What Happened?
On Wednesday, DeSantis hosted a roundtable in Tampa to bash Perez's sales tax cut plan as "Florida last." DeSantis juxtaposed his own proposal to slash property taxes as more Floridian-friendly than Perez's.
Meanwhile, Perez and Albritton had already worked out a trade for the extended Session, which is scheduled to end June 6: lawmakers would debate the sales tax proposal, as Perez wanted, in return for Albritton's "Rural Renaissance" legislation also being on the agenda.
But when DeSantis insisted that the sales tax reduction would be "dead on arrival," Albritton took a step back—siding with the governor. Some reports claim that this led the House to take his Rural Renaissance off the table entirely.
"[The proposal] may constrain options for the major property tax reform the Governor, House, and Senate, and most importantly—the Floridians we represent—are asking us to put forward," Albritton said in a Friday memo, promising that leaders will continue to work toward a final budget product.
Perez struck a different note, claiming that the deal "has blown up."
"I was disappointed when the Senate President informed me of his decision to no longer bring the House's historic tax proposal to the Senate floor," Perez said. "As I'm sure you can appreciate, this blew up the framework for the budget deal we had negotiated."
Despite this, the Speaker said, House members will meet on Tuesday to vote to extend the session until the end of June. Because an extension must be approved by both chambers, and because the Senate doesn't currently plan to approve another extension, it's unclear when the Session will end.
