WEEK 9: WILL SESSION END ON TIME?

As Week 8 of the legislative session closes, the House and Senate have yet to reach an agreement on the state budget, although the 2026 Regular Legislative session is scheduled to end on March 13. Under Florida’s legislative rules, the House and Senate are supposed to finalize their budget frameworks before the “cooling-off period”, which allows time for final negotiations and for legislators to review the spending plan before the session ends. 

This year's session is similar to the one held last year because once again, the chambers remain divided on several key priorities, and hundreds of bills are expected to die without being heard in committee or scheduled for votes. If they cannot resolve their differences in time, the Legislature may be forced to extend the session beyond March 13  to finalize the state budget. Lawmakers are already scheduled to return to Tallahassee for a special session called by Governor DeSantis on mid-decade redistricting from April 20- 24, 2026. 

The proposed budgets include:

Florida House Proposed Budget:  $113.58 billion

Florida Senate Proposed Budget: approximately $115 billion

Governor Ron DeSantis proposed a $117.4 billion state budget for the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026.

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