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April 4, 2025 | Legislative Reporter This past week was the fifth week of the 2025 Legislative Session, scheduled to end on May 2. Last Friday, the House and Senate revealed their budget proposals for FY 2025-26. The House announced a historic General Appropriations Act totaling $112.95 billion, $6 billion less than the current year budget and $2.7 billion less than Governor Ron DeSantis’ proposed budget. The House budget reflects House Speaker Perez’s initiative to dive into government spending and find savings for Floridians by reducing expenditures and cutting wasteful spending. The Senate released their proposed budget, totaling $177.35 billion. In his announcement, Senate President Albritton highlighted a budget that reduces state spending and the growth of state bureaucracy, all while maintaining significant investment in state initiatives. This week, the House and Senate heard and passed their proposed budgets out of committee, positioning them to be heard in the full House and Senate next week. Negotiations will begin after that. Currently, the two proposals are about $4.4 billion apart. While both chambers agree to reduce government spending, they have different approaches to getting there. A main difference between the two proposals is spending on state employees. The Senate proposal would do away with about 1,000 full-time positions that have been vacant at state agencies for at least 100 days. The House, meanwhile, would eliminate about 7,000 positions that have been vacant for 90 days or longer. The House approach aligns closely with the charge of the House budget subcommittees to dive into executive branch agency spending and find savings. Another big issue that will overshadow budget negotiations is the tax package. The House has proposed a permanent cut to Florida’s sales tax from 6% to 5.25%, delivering nearly $5 billion in annual savings to Floridians. Meanwhile, the governor has proposed sales tax holidays and a one-time property tax break for homesteaded property owners. This would mark the first step toward the governor’s long-term goal of eliminating property taxes through a future constitutional amendment. The Senate has signaled caution about making permanent changes, favoring a temporary tax relief approach while stressing the importance of a balanced approach. A final budget agreement must be reached by April 29 to adhere to the constitutionally mandated 72-hour “cooling off” period if the legislature is to end its session on time on May 2. The April 4 Bill Tracking Report can be viewed here. Please review it to see the filed bills that APA Florida is tracking and their status. Note that if you click on the bill number, you will be linked to more information about the bill. If you would like any bills added to this report or would like more information about a specific bill, please contact Stefanie Svisco at ssvisco@floridaplanning.org. The following bills of interest had action this week. Note these summaries are based on a review of the bill language and legislative staff analysis. You are encouraged to read the actual bill language of bills that interest you. Please note that not all bills are covered in all legislative reports. The reports focus on bills of particular interest that have had action over the previous week. You can use the Bill Tracking Report to see the status of other bills.
GROWTH MANAGEMENT Alternative Plans Reviews and Inspections: CS/CS/HB 1071 (Rep. Benarroch), a delete-all amendment, was reported favorably by the House Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee on April 1 and moves to the House Commerce Committee, its final committee of reference. April 4, 2025 | Legislative Reporter
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