Daniel Perez says Session won’t end early, budget allocations to be announced soon

House Speaker Daniel Perez is confirming that the House and Senate won’t wrap the budget before Friday’s planned Session end date, but he says that doesn’t mean Session is ending early.

“Despite wild rumors to the contrary, of which I have heard, I intend for us to continue working until both the House and Senate agree that we have disposed of all pending matters before the Legislature,” Perez said.

He added that Thursday and Friday will deal with returning messages, in which the two legislative branches attempt to resolve differences in bills that both have passed, but with some key differences in the language.

“Returning messages appear on message lists published by my office and Thursday and Friday, we’ll have many more stops and starts than a typical legislative day,” Perez said.

Perez noted that 53 bills have passed both chambers so far, while 253 bills have passed the House and 149 the Senate.

Monday through Wednesday will see the House only “taking up Senate bills that have a house bill on the calendar, or where a substantially similar House bill has already passed.”

“We will either pass these bills into law, or we will amend them and return them to the Florida Senate,” he said.

Meanwhile, tensions between Senate and House leadership have pushed the budget behind schedule, with Perez confirming a resolution won’t come this week.

“As it is abundantly clear to all of you, we will not complete the 2026-2027 state budget by the end of the week,” Perez told reporters.

“Allocation conversations are proceeding, and we will have an update for you and news to share in the days to come,” Perez added, suggesting the horse trading with Senate President Ben Albritton is underway.

Legislators will return to Tallahassee multiple times this Spring and Summer.

In addition to needing to pass a budget, they will return the week of April 20-24 to redraw congressional districts.

Gov. Ron DeSantis says the new map will remedy a “malapportioned” one in the wake of population growth since the 2020 census, from which the current congressional map enacted in 2022 derived. He believes the U.S. Supreme Court will decide Louisiana vs. Callais by then, thus eliminating any legal justification for minority-access districts.

DeSantis also wants a second Special Session to firm up language for a ballot initiative eliminating homestead property taxes, but as of yet he hasn’t officially called for it.