LAKE MARY, Fla. — Republican leaders say they have crafted a budget deal behind closed doors that clears the way for the Florida Legislature to wrap up its work for the year.
Senate President Joe Negron and House Speaker Richard Corcoran announced that the Legislature will extend its annual session to Monday. The session was supposed to end on Friday.
State lawmakers said they have an $83 billion deal in place on which they have to vote on Monday.
Legislative leaders also said that they will consider only the budget and budget-related bills during the three-day extension.
Negron, Corcoran and other top Republicans worked out the details of the budget in secret. They announced that a deal had been worked out before anything was released to the public.
Florida law requires that the budget be complete 72 hours before a final vote can be taken.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott said he isn’t happy with what lawmakers are doing.
Scott was in Lake Mary on Wednesday to kick off his “Fighting for Florida’s Future” tour, which is meant to encourage Floridians to contact their legislatures about issues.
Scott blasted the state legislative process.
“They’ve turned their back on their constituents. They’re doing this in the dark, not in the sunshine,” Scott said. “I haven’t seen the final budget. Have you?”
Scott’s main complaints are deep cuts to Enterprise Florida, the state’s job incentive program, and Visit Florida, the state’s tourism arm.
The governor is not ruling out a veto of the entire budget, a move that would force lawmakers back to Tallahassee for a special session.
“As governor, you have a lot of options,” Scott said. “I have the option to veto the entire budget. I can go through every line and do that, so I’m going to look at all the options I have.”
The heads of the House and Senate budget committees are meeting to present the details of the $83 billion budget.
Much of the budget was negotiated in private, so taxpayers will have their first look at how their money is being spent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group
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