Budget conference: Lawmakers seal PreK-12 deal, still at odds on string of issues

Florida lawmakers continue to inch towards a budget agreement, reaching consensus on the PreK-12 education portion of the spending plan, but nearly every other sector of the budget is yet to be finalized.

Time is running out for the House and Senate to reach an agreement and end the Regular Session on time. The budget must be made public by Tuesday to allow for the 72-hour “cooling off” period mandated by the constitution to end Session on Friday, the scheduled last day of the 2024 Session.

The PreK-12 schools funding comes to $28.4 billion for the fiscal year that starts July 1, a $1.8 billion increase on the current year. That comes to $8,959 per student, a $240 increase on the current year.

That was agreed to earlier in the week. But the chambers remained at odds until Saturday, when the Senate agreed to a set of House offers that preserved its preferred funding levels for a series of programs.

There’s $20 million for the New Worlds Scholarship accounts, which promote early learning literacy, and $10 million for the Florida Civics Seal of Excellence, which pays teachers who complete a civics training program a $3,000 stipend. That amount is $4 million less than the House’s preference but $3 million more than what the Senate wanted.

Despite a set of offers Saturday, a final agreement remains elusive on higher education, criminal and civil justice, health care, agriculture and transportation and economic development. There’s also the implementing bill and conforming bills that guide how the funding is spent that are still under negotiation.

In the transportation and economic development sector, one of the main sticking points is funding for the Job Growth Grant Fund, where Gov. Ron DeSantis issues grants to local governments and state colleges for road and job training projects. The Senate has stood firm at $75 million for the program, while the House has come up from its initial budget of $25 million to $56 million, but the sides remain apart.

One project the Senate did agree to is $35 million for Flagler State College for structural remodel of residential areas at the Ponce de Leon Hotel, an historic state landmark. The project was originally unfunded in the Senate budget.