SENATE BUDGET CHIEF RAPS HOUSE
By LLOYD DUNKELBERGER
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
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THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, April 17, 2017……… Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala said Monday he was glad to have made it “a third of the way” through the annual legislative session.
“Only 14 more weeks to go,” Latvala, R-Clearwater, told the Capital Tiger Bay Club during a lunchtime appearance a few blocks from the Capitol.
Presumably he was joking, as lawmakers are more than two-thirds of the way through the 60-day session, with the scheduled end on May 5. But uncertainty surrounds a timely ending — and the possibility of a special session — because the House and Senate remain far apart on their budget bills.
Latvala said lawmakers could push final budget negotiations right up until July 1, when the new budget year begins. If it goes beyond that, Latvala said, continued spending would be in the hands of Gov. Rick Scott, who has clashed with House leaders over deep cuts in economic-development and tourism programs.
