All Videos - Florida 2026 - 2026 5th Special Session (Page 2)

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Summary: The conference committee concluded its work on the implementing bill and related proviso language. The House presented its offer, accepting the Senate’s proviso offers on lines 603A, 618, 629, and 650, while bumping the remaining lines. On the implementing bill, the House accepted the Senate’s offer except for lines 6, 7, 9, 14, and 14A, which were bumped. The Senate then concurred with the House on the lines to bump for both the proviso and the implementing bill. Members and chairs on both sides thanked each other and their staff for the work of the conference committee. A motion was made and adopted without objection to allow staff to make technical and conforming adjustments related to the bump process. There was no public comment, no further business, and the meeting adjourned without objection.
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Summary: The Conference Committee on State Administration, Budget, Agriculture, Environmental, and General Government Appropriations met briefly to continue budget negotiations. The chair noted that the House had submitted a second offer on budget provisos and back-of-the-bill projects, along with a first offer on implementing and conforming bills, and members were told that many shaded sections reflected progress toward agreement on numbers and language. Senator Breuter and Chairman Maggard both thanked each other and their staffs, saying substantial progress had been made and that more work remained before the next meeting. No public comment was offered. Members were reminded that the committee was on one-hour notice for the next meeting. Representative Cheney moved to adjourn, and the meeting ended without any recorded vote on the substantive budget items.
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Summary: The Higher Education Budget Conference Committee met to continue negotiations on the higher education budget, projects, and proviso language. Senators and House members noted that both chambers had submitted new offers, with the Senate presenting a counteroffer on budget and projects and the House presenting its first proviso offer. Members said the changes were highlighted in the packet and focused on areas where the chambers’ starting points differed most. Senator Harrell thanked the House for reviewing the Senate’s initial offer and said the Senate had also worked through project items in addition to the budget. House members said they would study the Senate’s offer and continue working toward agreement. No public testimony was offered, and no questions or substantive objections were raised during the meeting. The committee adjourned after brief closing remarks from both sides expressing hope for a quick conclusion to the negotiations. Representative Young moved to rise, and the meeting ended with a reminder that the committee was on one-hour notice for future meetings.
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Summary: The conference committee on the House Justice Budget Subcommittee and the Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice met to continue budget negotiations. Members discussed offers related to the budget, projects, proviso, implementing language, and conforming language for House Bill 5403E, with both sides noting progress and expressing hope for timely responses so more items could be closed out. They also referenced ongoing efforts to finalize agency funding and member projects. No public testimony or public comment was offered. Members were reminded that the committee is now on a one-hour notice schedule for the next meeting. With no further business, Senator David Smith moved to rise and adjourn, and the committee adjourned.
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Summary: The conference committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget and Agriculture, Environment, and General Government convened briefly to exchange budget-related offers between the House and Senate. The House presented its offer on the Senate’s proposed proviso and implementing bill, along with offers on the two conforming bills: House Bill 501E, concerning petroleum cleanup programs, and Senate Bill 2506E, concerning fuel taxes. The Senate also presented its offer on the budget, back of the bill, and related projects, and both sides indicated they would review and follow up on the proposals. No public comment was offered. Members were reminded that the committee was on one-hour notice for the next meeting. Senator Davis moved to adjourn, and the committee adjourned without objection.
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Summary: The House Budget and Senate Appropriations Conference Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development met briefly and came to order with the chair reminding attendees to turn off cell phones. Senator DeSigley reported that the Senate appreciated the House’s offer and had made an offer on the proviso, back of the bill, and implementing bill, saying the parties were making good progress on their issues. The House responded that it had also made an offer on the budget and projects for review. No public comment was offered, and there was no additional substantive discussion. With no further business before the committee, Vice Chair Diccli moved to adjourn, and the meeting ended without objection.
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Summary: The health care budget conference convened and the House presented its second offer on the health care budget and related projects, with changes marked in yellow on the documents. Senator Trumbull responded positively, noting that the House appeared to have funded a substantial number of Senate priorities. No members of the public or others requested to address the conference committee. With no further business before the committee, Senator Trumbull moved to adjourn, and the meeting ended without objection.
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Summary: The Conference Committee on State Administration, Budget, Agriculture, Environmental, and General Government Appropriations met briefly to receive the Senate’s first offer on the budget spreadsheet, proviso language, projects, the back of the bill, and the implementing bill. Senator Brodeur said the offer included substantial movement and agreement, with many items grayed out or highlighted to show progress toward compromise, and he expressed hope it would bring the chambers closer on several issues. House members responded positively, saying the offer looked good and thanking the Senate for its work, while noting they would review it and follow up soon. No additional substantive comments were made, and there was no public testimony. With no further business, the committee reminded members that the next meeting would be noticed on a one-hour basis and then adjourned without any votes or formal actions taken.
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Summary: The Health Care Budget Conference convened for its first meeting, with members reminded to silence communication devices and welcomed to the committee. The committee organized itself by adopting motions naming Representative Andrade as chair and Senator Trumbull as vice chair, both without objection. Members were given initial side-by-side conference documents comparing House and Senate positions on the budget, projects proviso, and implementing conforming bills. The House also presented its initial offer, identified in House Offer Number One, including highlighted budget items and a projects spreadsheet offer. The meeting was brief and focused on organization and the exchange of initial budget materials; no substantive debate or votes on policy items occurred beyond the organizational motions.
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Summary: The House Budget and Senate Appropriations Conference Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development met to organize the conference and begin budget negotiations. Members unanimously adopted motions naming Representative Schof as chair and Senator DeSigley as vice chair. The committee was presented with the initial side-by-side comparison of the TED budget materials, including spreadsheets, projects, proviso, back of the bill, implementing bill, and conforming bill, along with a House offer to the Senate. The House explained that gray rows on the spreadsheet indicate items already agreed to, while black-highlighted rows show changes in the House offer intended to move closer to Senate positions. The Senate chair said the first offer would take time to review and that the Senate team would study it and respond soon. No public comment was offered. Members were reminded that the committee was on one-hour notice for the next meeting, and the conference adjourned without objection.
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Summary: The House Pre-K through 12 Education Budget Conference convened and organized by naming Rep. Persons-Mulicka as chair and Sen. Burgess as vice chair, with both selections approved without objection. Members also agreed, without objection, that ties are not allowed in committee meetings. Opening remarks from both chairs emphasized working together to resolve outstanding budget issues for the 2026-27 Pre-K-12 education budget. The House then presented its first budget offer. The chair highlighted several points: additional non-recurring child care and development funding to help prevent any child from being disenrolled from the school readiness program in fiscal year 2026-27; agreement to the Senate’s position on $200,000 for patriotic portraits in classrooms; continued support for a $100 million teacher salary increase focused on veteran teachers; and an adjustment to the base student allocation increase to match the Senate’s $50 increase. The offer also included project funding, FEFP summary changes, and proviso/back-of-the-bill items aligned with the House budget offer. No public testimony was offered and no questions were raised on the House offer. The chair reminded attendees that the conference was operating on a one-hour meeting notice. The meeting then adjourned on a motion to rise, without objection.
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Summary: The meeting was the organizational session of the conference committee for the House Justice Budget Subcommittee and the Senate Appropriations Committee on Civil and Criminal Justice. Members elected Representative Meini as chair and Senator Garcia as vice chair, and the committee was formally organized to begin reconciling the House and Senate versions of the budget. The chair explained that the House had provided the Senate with the original conference documents, including positions on the budget proviso, back-of-the-bill language, implementing bills, and conforming bills. The House also presented an offer on the proviso and back-of-the-bill language, with the chair saying the House had tried to move closer to the Senate on several issues. Senator Garcia said the Senate would review the offer and expressed appreciation for the work so far. There was no public comment, and no substantive votes on budget items were taken at this meeting. Senator Simon moved to adjourn, and the committee adjourned after the organizational and introductory remarks.
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Florida 2026 5th Special Session

Senate in Special Session E May 12th, 2026

Florida Senate Floor Meeting

Summary: The Senate convened in special session for budget conference work, opened with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and moments of silence honoring Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Mateer and former Senator Bill Posey. The Secretary read the joint proclamation calling the special session, which was limited to the budget, implementing bill, collective bargaining/state employee issues, retirement, DMS, law enforcement radio system, health, higher education, K-12 education, government administration, correctional facilities financing, judges, documentary stamp tax distributions, petroleum cleanup programs, fuel taxes, and taxation. Chair Hooper outlined the process for moving Senate and House budget conforming bills into conference posture, noting that conference meetings would be on one-hour notice. The Senate then took up and passed a series of Senate conforming bills and House companion bills, generally by unanimous 32-0 votes, with delete-all amendments used to place Senate language onto House bills or to clear bills for conference. Measures addressed fuel taxes, the state agency law enforcement radio system, judges, pre-K through 12 education, retirement, higher education, health care, government administration, correctional facilities financing and capital improvements, documentary stamp tax distributions, petroleum cleanup programs, state employees/collective bargaining, and the implementing bill for the 2026-27 budget. Senators repeatedly moved that, when the House version was not passed as received, the Senate request conference or accede to the House’s request for conference. The General Appropriations Bill was handled by substituting House Bill 5001E for Senate Bill 2500E, amending it with Senate substance, and passing it 32-0 before requesting conference. House Bill 7031E on taxation was also amended and debated; Senator Berman used the debate to urge consideration of suspending the motor fuel tax for summer relief, but the bill ultimately passed and the Senate requested conference after failing to pass the House version as received. The session ended with a motion to waive rules for publishing the Special Order Calendar for the remainder of the special session, followed by adjournment upon the call of the President for committee meetings and other Senate business.
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Summary: The Agriculture and Natural Resources Conference Committee convened and was formally organized by adopting motions naming Representative Snyder as chair and Senator Brodeur as vice chair. Members were provided original side-by-side documents showing the starting positions for the budget, proviso, back of the bill, implementing bill, and conforming bills. Senator Brodeur presented the Senate’s offer to the House on the budget, proviso, back of the bill, implementing bill, projects, and the Senate conforming bill, SB 2506E, which concerns fuel taxes. He noted that highlighted figures in the budget spreadsheet reflected Senate movement. The House said it would review the offer and return with a response, and both chambers expressed a willingness to continue working through the budget issues. There was no public comment. Members were told to watch for notice of the next meeting, likely the following day, with a one-hour notice requirement. The committee then adjourned without objection.
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Summary: The conference committee on the House State Administration Budget and Senate Agriculture, Environment, and General Government met briefly to organize its work and exchange budget offers. Senator Brodeur moved to nominate Representative Maggard to chair the conference committee, and Representative Maggard outlined that the House had made movement on the budget spreadsheet to narrow differences on several issues. Senator Brodeur said the Senate would review the House offer and likely would not respond that evening. Representative Maggard then noted the Senate had also made an offer on SB 2508E, the conforming bill for the State Agency Law Enforcement Radio System, and said the House would review it and follow up. No public comment was offered. Members were told to watch for notice of the next meeting, likely the following day, and the committee adjourned without objection.