It's ‘Midpoint' In Budget Negotiations And Chambers Take A Break

By Christine Sexton, Florida Phoenix

May 18, 2026

Florida legislators wrapped up the first week of their budget special session Friday far apart on multiple spending priorities for schools, healthcare — and even whether Gov. Ron DeSantis deserves a security detail after he leaves office.

“We’re at the midpoint in the negotiations,” Rep. Jason Shoaf of Port St. Joe, House budget chair for transportation and economic development, told reporters.

The only bill the Legislature is required to annually pass is the General Appropriations Act, the state budget. For the second time in as many years, Republican lawmakers were unable to finish that work during the 60-day regular session that ended in March.

When the Legislature cannot accomplish its work on time, it increases costs for taxpayers.

The House and Senate did last month reach an agreement on the overall spending amounts for the new budget, and they have since Tuesday been trying to bridge differences on individual spending items.

Some of those items include whether to break out how much the state spends to help families send their children to private schools; how much money should go to DeSantis priorities such as his “job growth grant fund” that lets the governor award economic development grants; and how much the state spends on healthcare for the poor, elderly, and disabled.

For the past few days, budget conference committees have exchanged offers contained on spreadsheets.

The Senate made a budget offer this week to have the state’s top law enforcement agency provide the governor and his family with security for the year following DeSantis’s departure from office in January. Seeking Rents investigative reporter Jason Garcia first broke the news on social media.

The House, which has been at odds with DeSantis, for the last two years under Speaker Daniel Perez of Miami, hasn’t agreed to the idea. There was no price tag with the budget offer because the details needed to make those assumptions, such as where he will live and what he will do, aren’t known.

Now the process changes. The next round of negotiations will involve the top budget chairs for the House and Senate. Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez said in memos Friday that Sen. Ed Hooper and Rep. Lawrence McClure will work on offers throughout the weekend but they would not formally swap any offers until next week.

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