April Legislative Update

Legislative Update

The halfway mark of the legislative session has arrived. Committee work is winding down and the House and Senate have proposed their respective budgets. The Senate proposal is $117.36 billion, the current fiscal year budget is $118.6 billion. The House proposal is $112.95 billion and the Governor’s budget proposal was $115 billion. The two bodies will have to come to an agreed upon amount to start the budget conference process. This is the one constitutionally required task the legislature needs to complete before adjourning the session.

The Congressional special elections have been held and Senator Randy Fine won Waltz’s former seat and CFO Jimmy Patronis won Gaetz’s former seat.

Legislation coming out of the House has a definite pro trial bar slant. It will be interesting to see what the Senate will agree to and what the Governor will veto.

The bright spot of the Session was the visit of Dr. Juan Batlle and the residents who visited the Capitol during the opening day ceremonies.

With thirty days remaining a lot can still happen. As they say, ”its not over until its over” and the Sergeant’s drop the hankies denoting sine die.

Best,
Alison Dudley Lobbyist, FRS
alisondudley@dudleyandassociates.com