2024 Session: Florida lawmakers hit finish line with votes on budget and tax breaks

TALLAHASSEE – Florida lawmakers closed the 2024 session with final votes on a $117.5 billion state budget, more than $400 million in tax breaks and a flurry of bill-passing before the traditional hanky-drop in the Capitol Rotunda.

The ceremonial finish by House and Senate sergeants came at 2:27 p.m., Friday, the final scheduled day of the 60-day session.

As usual, finalizing the state budget amounted to the final act of the Legislature. But lawmakers also raced to settle a handful of issues they scrapped over for most of the session’s previous 59 days.

The session’s fading moments included approval of an anti-human trafficking bill that bans anyone under age 21 from working as a stripper.

Another limits labor regulations by local governments, with lawmakers banning any requirements for outdoor workers to get heat breaks and eliminates “living wage” standards in high-cost communities by 2026.

More: Sine die done: Here are the winners and losers of the 2024 Florida Legislative Session

How this year’s session will be remembered could be shaped by partisan leaning.

“We’ve fixed a ton of problems,” said House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast. But he acknowledged some issues – like runaway property insurance costs – “are like steering a large ship” and will take time to yield results.

House Democrat Leader Fentrice Driskell of Tampa was more blunt. “It truly was a session of missed opportunities,” she said.

DeSantis joins Republican leaders for post-session talk

Gov. Ron DeSantis joined Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, soon after the session's end.

“While it’d probably be impossible to top the 2023 session just because so much was done, I think that the combination of the two really have been historic,” DeSantis said, reflecting on a spate of conservative policies enacted just weeks before he launched last May what became a failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

DeSantis also said the state budget was smaller, per capita, than Democratic-led states including California and New York. He also pointed to spending that toughened the state’s stance against crime and illegal immigration, and touted the Legislature’s efficiency, compared to Congress.

“The reality is, this is a team sport,” DeSantis said of working with the Republican-controlled Legislature.

The state budget is about $1.5 billion smaller than the current year’s. Lawmakers had set a goal of reducing spending, to reflect the loss of billions of dollars in federal aid which flowed to Florida and other states during the COVID-19 pandemic years.

Smaller budget, but plenty of spending

But there’s plenty of increases.

Included in the budget is an average $240-per-student boost, or 2.75%, for schools, bringing per pupil spending to $8,959 next year. State workers also can expect a 3% pay raise, marking the third straight year of raises aimed at attracting and retaining employees in a tight labor market.

It’s a reversal of what has been a history of the Legislature's refusing pay hikes for most of the previous decade.

Environmental programs also were covered with cash, including $1.7 billion toward the construction-happy state’s enduring problems with water quality. Among the areas drawing the money is wastewater treatment, Everglades restoration, combating algae and freshwater springs preservation.

The $439.6 million in tax breaks also sends a message to voters and donors this election year. The cuts include a cluster of four consumer-oriented sales tax holidays and an insurance premium tax savings that would save homeowners about $60, up to $75 for those who also have flood coverage.

But the insurance tax break is the principal step lawmakers took this spring to ease Florida’s runaway property insurance costs, considered the nation’s highest. Industry officials say that for most homeowners, the $60 savings are certain to be overtaken by the size of the premium hikes they face this year.

Property insurance still a problem

Outnumbered Democrats repeatedly chided ruling Republicans this session for their failure to blunt rising insurance costs, despite two special sessions of the Legislature in 2022 which poured money into backstopping the industry and limiting lawsuit risks.

Passidomo said GOP leaders responded to what voters wanted: “We have listened to our constituents, incorporated ideas and feedback from our communities, and made our mark with historic reforms to keep our state affordable and her people free,” she said.

But there were clear signs this session that Republican leaders in the Legislature were reasserting some control of state policy from DeSantis.

The session began in January with DeSantis taking a detour from campaigning in Iowa to urge lawmakers in his State of the State address to “stay the course.” Basically, his message was for them to cling to the red meat policy themes he was using in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Now, two months later, DeSantis is long gone from the presidential field.

Signs of shifting politics, after presidential run

And while Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate mostly toed a conservative line that may appeal to voters this election year in politically-reddening Florida, they did break occasionally with the governor.

“We know there are cracks in the facade,” Driskell said. “I know that many of my colleagues across the aisle are tired of the culture wars from Gov. DeSantis, that’s part of the reason why we didn’t see so many of them this session.

“The other was, I think he was a bit distracted trying to figure out who he is in the wake of his failed presidential campaign.”

DeSantis dismissed any suggestion that he was losing his grip on the Legislature.

“Everything that we set out to do we accomplished,” DeSantis said. “One hundred percent of the promises have been delivered on.”

DeSantis cited his support for the tax break package and $1.2 billion for teacher pay increases, and an extension of last year’s toll relief for motorists that was added late in budget negotiations by lawmakers and could total $450 million.

“I’m happy. We got everything we asked for, and then some,” the governor said.

A handful of GOP rifts draw notice this session

Still, Renner clashed with DeSantis over the speaker’s push for a social media ban for teen-agers, with the governor vetoing the Legislature’s first attempt, citing constitutional concerns. A re-do was quickly completed that, while certain to face a court challenge, is expected to meet DeSantis’ approval.

DeSantis’ pitch to help Miami Beach hotelier Jeffrey Soffer relocate a pari-mutuel permit to open a luxury gaming casino also was rejected by Renner.

But Renner downplayed any talk of a rift.

“He and I agree far, far more than we disagree,” Renner said of his bond with DeSantis.

Speaking about his relationship both with DeSantis and Passidomo, Renner said compromise was key.

“We have focused on not getting into a fight and killing a bill because of the 10% we don’t agree on but focusing on the 90% we agree on and making it happen,” Renner said.

Still, the Florida Republican Party’s 10-point wish list was mostly rejected by lawmakers, including culturally divisive measures that amplified the party’s focus on suburban white voters but antagonized Black and LGBTQ Floridians.

Legislation banning the removal of Confederate monuments and barring Pride flags from government buildings ran into a brick wall in the Florida Senate, where Passidomo sought to avoid a lot of the emotional firefights of past sessions.

With a cease-fire in culture wars, leaders' priorities done

Instead, Passidomo pushed through the Senate a “Live Healthy” plan to expand the state’s health care workforce and improve patient access, Renner claimed victory with his modified social media ban for young teenagers.

The Florida Senate also failed to confirm a DeSantis-appointee to the state’s Commission on Ethics, Tina Descovich, a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, amid questions about whether a lobbying conflict existed in her role as a conservative activist.

Passidomo, though, insisted that the governor’s setbacks this session shouldn’t be a focus. “It’s a really good relationship,” Passidomo said of her work with DeSantis. “He’s been very easy to work with, and we’ve done a lot of good things.”

Reporters Douglas Soule and Ana Goni-Lessan contributed to this report. John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @JKennedyReport.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida 2024 legislative session ends: 'We fixed a ton of problems.'