ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida lawmakers will have to stay in Tallahassee because. for the second time in two years, the budget is not ready.
This week on “Politically Motivated‚” Christopher Heath and Lauren Melendez take a closer look at what is holding up state budget negotiations, along with what bills are still outstanding, and the results of the city elections in Orange County on Tuesday.
Watch “Politically Motivated” every Wednesday at 8:30 a.m., with replays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on News 6+.
The Florida budget
Last year it took 105 days for the Florida Legislature to pass a budget — that’s an extra 15 days on the 90-day legislative session, for those who like math. Passing a budget is the only thing the Florida Legislature is constitutionally obligated to do.
About $1.4 billion separates the two chambers on the budget: the Florida House wants a smaller budget at $113.6 billion, while the Senate wants a $115 billion budget.
The current budget expires on June 30, and if the legislature doesn’t get a budget passed, we could see a state government shutdown, which would halt non-essential services like state parks and road projects.
Some other bills that are still outstanding — Gov. DeSantis’ AI Bill of Rights has not passed the Florida House because House Speaker Daniel Perez thinks the issue should be handled at the federal level.
The House has passed a proposed constitutional amendment repealing property taxes, but the Senate has not released any concrete plans.
Still, that doesn’t kill the issue, especially since DeSantis is already planning a special session on redistricting for late April. Property taxes could be added to that session.
Local elections
Four Orange County municipalities had elections in the past week.
Eatonville has a new mayor, and she is a bit of a political newcomer. Ruthi Critton beat out Vice Mayor Theo Washington and Council Member Wanda Randolph to become the new mayor during the town’s election over the weekend.
In Apopka, incumbent Mayor Bryan Nelson has been unseated, but who will replace him is not known yet.
No candidate got more than 50% of the vote in the Apopka mayoral race on Tuesday, so the race goes to a runoff on April 14 between City Commissioner Nick Nesta and Orange County Commissioner Christine Moore.
Nelson came in third place.
In the town of Oakland, Commissioner Joseph McMullen was reelected to another term.
In Maitland, Keith Givens won a city council seat. He is the first Black council member elected in the modern era.