The Florida Capitol on Jan. 20, 2021. Photo by Michael Moline/Florida Phoenix)
While tensions between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the leaders of the Florida Legislature appear to have ebbed with the two branches of state government coming to terms on an illegal immigration package, House Speaker Daniel Perez is still asserting his chamber’s independence by assembling four special committees to review DeSantis’ line-item budget vetoes from last year, with the possibility of overriding them and restoring that funding.
First up on Tuesday morning was the “combined workshop group” assembled to review the 162 water programs vetoed by the governor in the 2024-2025 fiscal year budget last June.
“It’s our job as a work group to determine if we have any recommendations of reinstatement,” said Panhandle GOP Rep. Michele Salzman, chairing the committee.
The group is scheduled to have two more meetings over the next two weeks.
Salzman said the plan would be for the committee to create a list of budget line-items DeSantis vetoed and take that list before the entire120-member Florida House. A representative from the committee will present each project individually, with the House voting up or down on each.
Once their list has been voted on, it will move to the Senate.
“You will have to speak to the reasoning why we reinstated, or we are requesting to reinstate, those projects,” she said.
Salzman recognized how unusual it was in Florida for the GOP-controlled Legislature to come back to look at overriding some of the governor’s vetoes, but said it was a positive development for Floridians.
“I’ve got a lot of people asking me, ‘What’s going on?’ Listen, we’re just utilizing our constitutional authority,” she said. “We’re just taking a look. There’s nothing crazy about it.”
The panel is scheduled to meet again on Thursday morning at 8 a.m. and is charged with coming up with recommendations for the entire House to consider by the end of next week.
Three additional special committees designed to review line-item vetoes made by the governor were to convene later on Tuesday afternoon. Their jurisdictions include vetoed human services, justice services, and library, cultural, and historical preservation projects.
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