Ryan Nicol
With the two chambers at odds over how much to fund the Department of Lottery’s paid advertising and promotions, the Senate is coming down from their original number.
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government now has $3 million allotted for a line item to increase lottery ad spending. That’s a drop from their original number of $5 million.
The House State Administration Budget Subcommittee provided no money for that purpose in its first offer Tuesday. It remains to be seen whether they will meet the Senate in the middle or stand by their current position.
But the two chambers have finalized several other spending proposals regarding the Department of Lottery after yesterday’s budget conference had every line item unresolved.
Points of agreement include a more than $821,000 boost to the gaming system contract, a more than $499,000 increase for leases, $250,000 for an independent security audit of the Florida Lottery, more than $82,000 for studio cameras for the lottery draw, and more than $67,000 for cybersecurity resiliency.
All of those items are grayed out, meaning they’ll be in the final budget proposal.
The Senate has also moved to the House position regarding some budget cuts. Both chambers include $3,500 to reduce expenses and nearly $47,000 to reduce other services. Those items are not yet grayed out, however, meaning there are still some behind-the-scenes logistics to work out.
The House is sticking by a proposal to cut five positions that have been vacant for more than 90 days, saving more than $349,000. The Senate does not contemplate any of those cuts.
Indeed, the Senate is standing by a proposed $133,000 boost to increase operating costs, which the House has at $0 for now.
But the single largest sticking point continued to be that $3 million pot for advertising increases. Budget conferences are expected to continue through Thursday, leaving time for this disagreement to be resolved.
