Christine Jordan Sexton
Top budget writers for the House and Senate held what may be their penultimate meeting, swapping final offers that are aimed at settling outstanding issues left in the health and human service portion of the budget.
The two chambers made offers on proviso language and conforming bills (SB 2510, HB 5303) that make the statutory changes needed to make the budget work.
The Senate has pushed to include in its conforming bill language requiring the state to issue medical marijuana licenses to certain vendors. But the House has refused to go along.
Specifically, the Senate wants to include language that would require the state to issue medical marijuana licenses to all applicants that applied for, and received, a notice of intent of approval or denial or a notice of final determination. The proposal is being advanced by the Senate, but Appropriations Chair Doug Broxson couldn’t provide reporters details Sunday night.
The House, meanwhile, is maintaining its push to launch a pilot project to test the idea of blending into one Medicaid managed care plan the delivery of home- and community-based services and the delivery of traditional health care services. The House moved to include in SB 2510 the pilot program, which also is contained in SB 1094.
Budget negotiators had already agreed to the Slots for Doctors program, which provides $100,000 to hospitals and qualified institutions for each newly created qualified resident position it creates. But the House on Sunday night modified that language to ensure that a hospital does not receive money from the newly established Slots for Doctors residency program in addition to $100,000 from the standing Graduate Medical Education Startup Bonus Program.
The House on Sunday night also offered up a final offer on legislation that would alter how Florida’s cancer research programs are funded, including eliminating a requirement that a cancer center be Florida-based and instead just stating the center must have a Florida location.
The Senate also made an offer on salaries for top state officials, including the Governor, members of the Florida Cabinet and judges. The House had included in its budget a boost in salaries for the Governor, the three elected Cabinet members and the Lieutenant Governor, but the Senate kept their pay at current levels. The Senate stuck to that position on Sunday evening.
“You know what? I don’t think the Governor wanted a pay raise,” Broxson said. Broxson added that DeSantis wanted to reward hard-working state employees and that he wanted to “fund everyone but the Cabinet.”
Broxson and his counterpart, Rep. Tom Leek, said they would meet again early Monday morning, when it is anticipated when they announce a final agreement on any outstanding budget items as well as take up the much-anticipated supplemental funding list also known as the “sprinkle” list.
Lawmakers must reach an agreement on a final spending plan by Tuesday to meet the 72-hour “cooling off” period required by the state constitution before they can vote on the budget to avoid pushing the Regular Session past its scheduled May 5 end date.
