By Staff Report
Senate Appropriations Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Trinity, said Wednesday that the chamber’s planned rollout of its proposed fiscal year 2026-27 budget has been delayed by a week as senators await action from the House.
“Traditionally, the House and Senate roll their budgets out the same week,” Hooper told senators. “It’s important for us to keep that tradition and roll out the same week as our partners in the House. This year, the House is the host, and it will be their bill that we adopt finally.”
Hooper said he originally planned to have the Senate’s budget released Wednesday. He now expects the spending plan to be introduced in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 12 and to reach the Senate floor on Feb. 18.
Last year’s regular session was delayed 45 days after the two chambers were unable to reach agreement on the budget and a related tax package.
Hooper said discussions with the House appear more productive than they were a year ago.
“We look forward to working with our House partners and getting the budget process underway as soon as possible,” Hooper said. “We have great partners in the House. (House Budget) Chairman McClure and I are working very closely together. We communicate well with each other, much better than the 105-day session we all endured last session. I fully expect that we will continue to work well together and complete our budget in a very timely manner.”
On Tuesday, Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, offered a “stay tuned” after acknowledging that “it is fair to say that it appears at this moment that the House and the Senate are not on the same page as it relates to timing of a budget rollout.”
After an appearance Tuesday at the Historic Capitol Museum with House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, Albritton said the two leaders are communicating and not engaged in an ongoing “civil war.”
“My goal is, and I believe we will see that in the end, is that this stuff will find alignment and we’ll move forward — not that the budgets will be completely reconciled,” Albritton said. “I’m talking about the timing of when they are rolled out. Stay tuned. We’re working in that direction.”
On Jan. 23, a panel of economists known as the Revenue Estimating Conference, citing “elevated” national economic uncertainty, added $502.5 million to projected revenue for fiscal year 2025-26 and $70 million for fiscal year 2026-27. General revenue is closely watched because it is a major funding source for schools, health programs and prisons.
