DeSantis Nixes Idea of Budget ‘Summit’

By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

ALLAHASSEE — As legislative leaders try to restart the budget process, Gov. Ron DeSantis indicated Monday he has no desire to take part in a sit-down suggested by the state Republican Party to hammer out differences.

DeSantis rejected a “summit” with House and Senate leaders, an idea that was floated Friday by party Chairman Evan Power after budget talks broke down.

“It’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,” DeSantis said during an appearance in Tampa. “The way it works is that people should do their jobs. Now, my role in the process is to sign or veto the budget as a whole, but also (veto) individual line items in the budget.”

Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, backed DeSantis’s position on the role of the party.

Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, have been trying to reach agreement on “allocations,” an initial step that determines how much overall money goes to areas of the budget such as education and health and human services. After allocations are set, conference committees can negotiate details.

“The speaker and I are making progress towards joint allocations to begin the budget conference,” Albritton said in a statement Monday. “As I told the senators on Friday, I am committed to continuing to work towards a final budget and tax relief package the House, Senate, and governor can support.”

Perez representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Friday, Perez accused Albritton of backing out of a “historic tax proposal” that the leaders outlined May 2 as they extended the annual legislative session to reach a budget deal. DeSantis, who wants to reduce property taxes, threatened last week to veto Perez’ priority of cutting the state sales-tax rate.

The House will meet briefly Tuesday to extend the potential end date of the session until June 30. Also, a House select committee on property taxes will meet. But as of late Monday afternoon, no formal budget conference negotiations had been scheduled.

“We stand ready to help our Republican team,” Power said in a text message Monday.

Power on Friday called the summit proposal a chance for “leaders to collaborate, unite, and deliver relief and lasting results for Florida families.” Along with the Republican governor, the state has GOP supermajorities in the House and Senate.

As they announced the extension May 2, Perez and Albritton indicated they had agreement on a $2.8 billion tax-cut proposal and a budget that would be smaller than DeSantis’ recommended $115.6 billion spending plan.

The House approved a measure last month that called for cutting the state sales-tax rate from 6 percent to 5.25 percent, which would have totaled roughly $5 billion. But the Senate did not go along with the idea.

The Senate countered with a plan that included providing a sales-tax exemption on clothes and shoes valued at $75 or less. DeSantis, meanwhile, has called for a one-time $1,000 property-tax rebate to homeowners, before asking voters in 2026 to approve a broader property-tax cut.

Albritton has expressed concerns for weeks about passing tax cuts that might need to be revisited in the coming years because of budget shortfalls.

Perez said the $2.8 billion tax-cut proposal announced May 2 included a $1.6 billion cut in the sales-tax rate.

The House also approved a budget proposal last month that was more than $4 billion smaller than the Senate proposal.

DeSantis and Perez have clashed this year on several fronts, from immigration enforcement and university and college presidential searches to oversight and record keeping by First Lady Casey DeSantis’ signature economic-assistance program, Hope Florida.

DeSantis last week ridiculed the 37-member House Select Committee on Property Taxes as a “dog and pony” show and on Monday said, “leadership is driving these guys in a poor direction.”

DeSantis continued to point to what he called “petty” vendettas by leaders who are not focused on “policy.”

“It’s not the direction that their voters want. It’s not what they campaigned on,” DeSantis said.

The Legislature is required to complete the budget by July 1, the start of the 2025-2026 fiscal year.

DeSantis said “politically it’d be really, really dumb” for lawmakers not to deliver a budget on time.

“All you have to do is just copy and paste what’s been done,” DeSantis said. “Yeah, do a little flourish on it, of course. But this is not like you’re having to reinvent the wheel.”