By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Lawmakers remain in a holding pattern, with no concrete progress made on the budget. Legislative leaders issued memos to members saying they won’t need to return to the Capitol next week because there’s no agreement on allocations – top line numbers for the spending plan.
When talks between the House and Senate to allocate funding for different parts of the fiscal year 2026-2027 spending plan crashed in early March, requiring extra time for budget talks for the second consecutive year, a general “mid-April” timeline was given for the return.
That led many to anticipate lawmakers to take up the process on April 13, with the work overlapping the five-day special session Gov. Ron DeSantis called for congressional redistricting that begins April 20.
On Wednesday, April 8, House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, sent separate memos telling lawmakers no deal on allocations has been reached and they aren’t ready to begin formal negotiations.
“While I believe we are making great progress, it will not be necessary for you to return to Tallahassee prior to the special session called by Governor DeSantis,” Albritton wrote. “We will share a schedule for that special session as soon as possible.”
Perez called “external speculation” of a special session next week “not accurate.”
The special session for congressional redistricting is still moving forward, although the motivating reason DeSantis gave for calling the session hasn’t come to pass.
DeSantis cited a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision on a Louisiana redistricting case as the primary reason to redraw Florida’s congressional districts.
He believes the ruling, when it comes, will strike down part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that allows districts to be drawn on racial grounds to address historic discrimination. That would require, DeSantis claims, the state to redraw some districts in South Florida.
Despite the lack of a ruling, though, DeSantis doesn’t think lawmakers need to wait.
“We know how that Supreme Court case is going to come out at this point. I don’t think there’s much of a dispute about that,” DeSantis said while at a bill signing event at the University of South Florida. “And I think Justice Alito is writing the opinion. So, us looking at our map, understanding the issues in that case, and fixing it, I think that’s appropriate whether the decision comes before we do it or after.”
“It’ll obviously come sometime between now and the end of June,” DeSantis added.
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