A.G. Gancarski
House Appropriations Chair Rep. Travis Cummings is gearing up for the yearly ritual of budget negotiations with the Senate.
He addressed the House position on several matters in a brief Q&A over the weekend.
One such controversial issue that exists between the House and Senate budgets is a radically different dispensation toward the state’s land acquisition program.
The Senate wants to slot $125 million to acquire environmentally sensitive lands; the House, just $20 million.
Cummings noted that these are initial proposals, subject to negotiation.
“It is a start, and yes, we are far apart from the Governor and Senate. We own a bunch of land today and have to always consider the permanent expenditures to manage such lands. But, we look forward to engaging our Senate partners during budget conference. There are no doubt some pristine areas in our state that are worthy candidates for Florida Forever funds,” Cummings noted.
Another area where daylight exists between the House and Senate and Governor is affordable housing funding.
The Governor and Senate each want $387 million for the Sadowski Trust Fund; the House, just $144 million.
In urban areas, renters face an affordable housing crisis, with property owners holding the leverage in a tight market.
However, Cummings sees the problem as something that localities should be able to solve, in part by engaging private sector developers.
“We think local governments need to be responsible leaders in these housing initiatives, whether it be reduced zoning and regulatory barriers or incentives such as waiving impact fees etc.,” Cummings said.
“We are seeing some progress in that regard and are fortunate to have first-class developers/contractors in our backyard in Jax like Vestcor and Summit. Touring those properties and speaking to their tenants has provided me a new perspective, especially for workforce housing,” he added.
Beyond those areas, another potential negotiation point: the House vote to move the Office of Energy out of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The bill has conformed with the House budget, which contemplates the shift of the 14-member FTE office to the Department of Environmental Protection.
Cummings framed it not as an initiative of FDEP or Gov. Ron DeSantis, but as “an idea that arose in the Florida House as we looked at overall efficiencies throughout state government.”
He noted that the energy office had been at FDEP before, so the move was a “reasonable proposal.”
FDACS Commissioner Nikki Fried has contended the move is a “partisan power grab” attempt by the House, which may be more symbolic than anything else. Thus far, the Senate seems cool to the idea, and their budget maintains the status quo.
