Florida’s regular legislative session is scheduled to end in one week, but official budget negotiations haven’t even started. This likely means an extended session or a special session to finish the only job constitutionally required of lawmakers.
We’ve also seen some priority bills pass the Senate while getting no discussion in the House.
First, the House and Senate are about a billion and a half dollars apart on their state budget proposals.
"We have a fundamental disagreement on what the budget should look like for the state of Florida.”
And for that reason, House Speaker Daniel Perez told reporters at the Capitol this week it’s looking less likely that lawmakers will end the session on time.
"The House believes we should spend less money. The Senate believes we should spend more money. I am concerned with the future of the state of Florida. The three-year outlook is important to me. I want to make sure that future legislatures have the flexibility that I have had to make the right decision,” Perez said. “I don’t think that I am very flexible on wanting to spend more money.”
The budget isn’t the only issue. The Senate has passed some prominent bills that haven’t been heard in any House committees.
As far as Perez is concerned, that means they’re likely dead for the year.
That’s what happened to a bill titled Medical Freedom. It would expand a parent’s ability to opt students out of vaccines, an issue backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Perez has regularly butted heads with the governor, and while the vaccine bill made it to the Senate floor, Perez says it won’t be considered by the House.
“That’s a bill that wasn’t heard in the House. It wasn’t heard in the committee process. Obviously we function different than the Senate. A bill that hasn’t moved in the House is not gonna be brought up at this time.”
The House has also avoided an effort to create an AI Bill of Rights, another priority for DeSantis which easily passed the Senate.
St. Augustine Republican Senator Tom Leek says the topic of how to regulate artificial intelligence isn’t going away.
“I suspect that for many, many years to come, maybe all of the years to come that this chamber, will be back dealing with the impact of artificial intelligence," Leek said to his fellow lawmakers. "So this won't be the final expression of what we have, but I do think this is an important first step to make sure that our children and vulnerable adults are protected from companion chat bots and other inappropriate AI uses.”
The Senate’s proposal aims to prevent minors from interacting with AI chat bots without parental permission. It would protect name, image and likeness rights, and it requires users to be notified when they’re interacting with AI. Proponents of the legislation say children have harmed themselves after interacting with chat bots.
Perez agrees action is needed – but at the federal level.
“We don’t want to see another life lost because of AI and I do believe that the White House is going to address that," Perez said.
"If we address it on a state-by-state level, then you’re only going to cover some states from stopping future generations from being in the position that child was in. Once you tackle that from the federal legislative point of view, you’re able to tackle all 50 states. You’re able to help every single child that could potentially be in that position.”
Finally, the Senate took another try at passing the Rural Renaissance bill, a priority of Senate President Ben Albritton. The wide-ranging package would offer help for rural areas, including money to repair roads and build affordable housing. It was sponsored by Tallahassee Republican Senator Corey Simon, whose district includes a lot of rural areas in the panhandle.
“Rural issues are broad, interconnected, and overdue for attention," Simon said as he explained his proposal to lawmakers. "In short, this bill aims to expand and diversify what economic development can look like in rural Florida, strengthen the infrastructure that supports homegrown businesses and legacy farms and citrus operations, and improves access to education, health care, and employment so families can stay and thrive in the communities they love.”
In January, the Senate unanimously passed the bill for the second consecutive year, but it was never considered in a House committee.
WFSU's Tristan Wood and WUSF's Douglas Soule assisted with reporting on this story.
