A.G. Gancarski
With budget negotiations ramping up this week, at least one appropriations committee chair is not worried about budgeting for coronavirus.
House Appropriations Chairman Rep. Travis Cummings expressed confidence Monday morning in the state response to the just-declared public health emergency.
“We feel that Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Scott Rivkees are well-prepared and treating the matter with the proper, utmost attention,” Cummings told Florida Politics via text message.
Cummings stressed that lines of communication are open.
“The Governor’s Office has kept us informed, including the two recently diagnosed cases in Florida,” Cummings said.
As Florida Politics first reported Sunday night, two people in Florida — one from Hillsborough County and one from Manatee County — have become the first in Florida to test “presumptively positive” for COVID-19, the Governor said.
“From a budgetary standpoint, we are prepared to do whatever is necessary to ensure Floridians are best protected and cared for … but feel that existing state resources are adequate at this time,” Cummings said.
For budget watchers, especially those wondering how the House and Senate will solve a nearly $1.5 billion gap in projected budgets, the coronavirus curveball might seem to be another complication to solve just a week and a half before Mar. 13’s Sine Die.
Time is running short, and major issues remain unresolved.
That would include bones of contention like VISIT FLORIDA, which the House wants to cut entirely, and significant differences on the budget to acquire environmentally sensitive land (the House proposes $20 million, less than a sixth of the Senate’s $125 million). Affordable housing proposals also differ. The Senate proposes $387 million and the House just $144 million.
“No agreements have occurred in those areas,” Cummings said. “If we don’t have allocations done in the next few days, we would have to extend Session.”
At least for now, it appears negotiations between Cummings and his Senate counterpart, Sen. Rob Bradley, are going to be business as usual.
