In the March 4th edition of this very blog, your writer gave close coverage of the constitutional basis and time-frame of the current Florida Legislative Session. If ‘you’ do not have that article saved on your computer or cellphone desktop or in your ‘Favorites’ or ‘Bookmarks’ (and certainly you should by all means), here is a link to March 4th’s blog article.
Have ‘you’ opened that article yet? Well, when that click is engaged the discussion will show that the current Legislative Session closes Sine Die on Friday May 3rd, 2019 [PDF]. (Pull out the white hankie for the Sine Die ceremony …literally.)
As noted in the prior piece about this year’s Session, pursuant to Article 3, Section 19 of the State Constitution “…as a constitutional matter, the sole bill Florida’s bicameral Legislature (that is, the House of Representatives and the Senate) must pass is the annual state budget.”
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So right now (meaning even as this article is being written) and through the upcoming week both houses of the Florida Legislature, through two Conference Committees and a variety of topic-specific subcommittees, are working through the 2019-2020 component budget requestsI, together with the Governor’s own $91.3 billion budget proposalII. (A point of personal privilege: This writer, in a prior career phase, has worked on several Legislative Budget Requests for a state agency. Let ‘us’ just say that they are detailed. Quite detailed.) The “sausage” 1 which emerges from that process will be the final budget.
Time now to choose a favorite metaphor – “Dog in the fight” 2 or “Skin in the game” 3. Meaning, many people and organizations have a wide scope of interests in the size, sources, and allocations in the budget which is eventually passed by the both houses of the legislature and presented to the Governor for review and approval (or not, because Florida Constitution Article III, Section 8(b) gives the Governor ‘line item’ veto authorityIII.
So…If ‘you’, the reader, are one of those people who are concerned about the State’s budget, and if you have not done so yet, it is the moment to get involved. Right now. The first way is to contact members of the two Conference Committees:
- House Conference Committee and topic-specific subcommittees [PDF]
- Senate Conference Committee and topic-specific subcommittees [PDF]
If ‘you’, the reader, are one of those people who are concerned about the State’s budget, and if you have not done so yet, it is the moment to get involved. Right now.
And, then, once the hankie has dropped, to contact the Governor’s office before he signs or vetoes (all or some of) the budget.
By-the-by, once the 2019-2020 state budget is finalized, work will undoubtedly begin on the 2020-2021 budget will begin. Don’t you know… While Florida has a specific legislative season, it is never too soon to start planning for the next one.
More information to follow on the budget itself in due course.
1 https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/07/08/laws-sausages/
2 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/have_a_dog_in_this_fight
3 https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/have-skin-in-the-game
I http://www.flsenate.gov/Media/Topics/IntensiveBudgetReview
II http://www.boldvisionforabrighterfuture.com/HomeFY20.htm
III http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?submenu=3#A3S08
– For more information, call Philip N. Kabler of the Gainesville, FL office of Bogin, Munns & Munns at 352.332.7688, where he practices in the areas of business, banking, real estate, and equine law. He has taught business and real estate law courses at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Warrington College of Business Administration. And is now the President-Elect of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association.
NOTICE: The article above is not intended to serve as legal advice, and you should not rely on it as such. It is offered only as general information. You should consult with a duly licensed attorney regarding your Florida legal matter, as every situation is unique. Please know that merely reading this article, subscribing to this blog, or otherwise contacting Bogin, Munns & Munns does not establish an attorney-client relationship with our firm. Should you seek legal representation from Bogin, Munns & Munns, any such representation must first be agreed to by the firm and confirmed in a written agreement.
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