Florida state budget
The Florida Legislature has one responsibility – to pass a budget. But the 60-day session has come and gone, and legislators are nowhere close to a budget deal. Jim talks to State Senator Shevrin Hones about that, and when there might be a budget agreement.
Guest: State Sen. Shevrin Jones/D-South Florida
About this issue
DeSantis’ second-to-last legislative session in Tallahassee has been defined by interparty squabbles that spilled out into the open, as the Legislature’s GOP leaders sparred with each other and openly defied the term-limited governor.
Over the 60-day regular session, members of DeSantis’ own party launched an investigation into the signature initiative of his wife, first lady Casey DeSantis, accused a key ally of the governor of criminal conspiracy and advanced measures aimed at reining in his administration.
Despite enjoying a GOP supermajority in both chambers, legislative leaders failed to pass the one bill Florida law requires, the state budget, ahead of the scheduled end of the regular session on Friday. Instead, lawmakers ran out the clock, dragging their negotiations into the night before announcing a budget framework shortly before 10 p.m. Friday.