‘Them’s the facts’: Gov. DeSantis blames House ‘vendettas’ for budget impasse

As the Legislative Session promises to go into overtime over Senate and House differences on budget toplines, Gov. Ron DeSantis says the House is largely to blame.

The Governor spoke for over 10 minutes in response to a reporter’s question in Fruitland Park. DeSantis voiced his grievances with the legislative body at great length, saying their irritation with him, coupled with leadership’s “personal agendas,” have made them ineffective.

“I think the House’s position has been, ‘Well, you know, the Governor has gotten everything he wants, so whatever he’s for, we’re against.’ And that’s why they’ve been running themselves ragged with this really dysfunctional and unsuccessful House of Representatives this Legislative Session,” DeSantis said.

“Regardless of what happens the next couple days, this will go down as the least productive Florida House of Representatives in decades.”

As he’s done before, the Governor said House members have consciously decided to go against the voters who have supported what had been a unified Republican agenda.

“They didn’t elect a single one of them to sabotage the achievements and to sabotage the success, but that has been their posture and what they want to do,” DeSantis said.

“So I don’t know what’s going to happen between now and Friday. But I will tell you this Legislative Session, there’s been a glaring distinction between (the House and) the Senate conducting business in a way that is mature, that is professional, that is seeking to build off the success.”

DeSantis said the House has prioritized “personal agendas, vendettas.”

“I think it’s been petty, and that is not the way to do business,” he added, before suggesting those drive the budget impasse.

“There will not be a budget passed in the Legislature when the Legislative Session expires on Friday. How that then gets resolved, we’ll work through it,” DeSantis said.

“But I just think that folks need to be very clear on what’s happened here. Why has the Legislative Session had a lot of these turns? And it’s because you’ve seen a much different set of behaviors in the Florida House of Representatives than you have seen amongst the legislative chambers, certainly for the last six years.”

Indeed, the dysfunction on the budget is unparalleled in recent memory, with budget Chairs not even advancing top line offers.

That conflict is extending to ancillary issues, such as a Senate proposal to name a substance abuse center after Sen. Darryl Rouson, which was rejected by the House. Additionally, House changes to the “Rural Renaissance” bill prioritized by Senate President Ben Albritton also met with Senate disfavor.

“I’m just really glad that in a year and a half, we’re going to have another Speaker,” said former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, a DeSantis ally during her time atop the legislative body.

Budget chief Ed Hooper added that “maybe this will be some indication why on day 58 of this Session, we don’t have a budget agreement.”

“This is what we deal with. We will make it right, or else,” he said. “This is too petty for me to tolerate.”