TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Let the Florida budget negotiations begin.
The Florida Senate unanimously passed a nearly $109 billion spending plan Thursday with virtually no debate the day after the House passed a $105 billion plan after two hours of contentious debate.
The two sides now have until March 8 to agree on a budget to send to Gov. Ron DeSantis if they want to finish the annual 60-day session on time.
One major difference between the spending proposals is that the state Senate did not include a plan to withhold funding from a dozen school districts that imposed mask mandates last summer, defying the governor's orders.
The House's proposal diverts $200 million from those school districts, which include Hillsborough and Sarasota counties. Neither district currently have any mask mandates in effect.
“I really want to thank you for not doing the $200 million punitive deduction from the 12, some of the largest public schools, which would really hurt students,” said Sen. Tina Polsky, the only member to debate on the budget, according to the Associated Press.
Polsky represents Palm Beach and Broward counties, two of the largest areas that would have been impacted by the House's proposal.
Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he was open to the idea of allowing parents to sue districts if their children were negatively affected by mask mandates.
"My view on that is rather than take money that may penalize a teacher or a student because of the actions of some union-controlled school board member — my view would be, let's not do that," DeSantis said during a news conference. "But what you could do is say any parent whose kid was illegally forced masked this year, in Florida, at any of those districts, they should have the right to sue if their kids have any negative effects of it."
The governor said taking this route would create a balance between penalizing politicians and not depriving kids in schools of the opportunity to participate in certain programs.
"They flouted the law and they should be liable for the consequences of their actions," DeSantis added.