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March 17, 2020The Regular Session of the Florida Legislature will come to a close on Thursday, March 19. Because of delays in negotiating the budget and a mandatory 72-hour review period, the session was extended past its scheduled end date of March 13 to hold a final vote on the spending plan. All other business before the Legislature has concluded.
On Thursday, the House and Senate chambers will convene to debate and vote on a $93.2 billion state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2020. By every expectation, it will pass in its current form. The budget will go to Governor Ron DeSantis who has line item veto authority.
The budget includes $25 million to help Governor DeSantis and his administration combat the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus, known as COVID-19. In anticipation of an economic downturn from the coronavirus, legislators redirected more than $300 million into reserves.
The final status of FCCB budget priorities include:
Pregnancy Support Services - Funding remains at its current level. $4 million is allocated to the Florida Pregnancy Care Network to provide services such as counseling, referrals, material support, training, and pregnancy and childbirth education to pregnant mothers as they prepare to parent or place their babies for adoption. FCCB has been supportive of the program since its inception in 2005, and Catholic Days participants advocated for the inclusion of the program in Florida statutes in 2018.
Affordable Housing Trust Fund - The Affordable House Trust Fund will be fully funded, ending a string of years in which the legislature has swept a significant amount of affordable housing funds to general revenue for other projects. This addresses what is widely recognized as a significant need in Florida. The FY 20-21 total allocation is $370 million. $30 million of the allocation is going towards affordable housing programs in the Panhandle areas affected by Hurricane Michael. As a member of the Sadowski Coalition, a nonpartisan collection of 32 statewide organizations, the FCCB has long supported full funding of housing trust funds. In addition to assisting vulnerable populations with housing needs, full appropriation will create more than 30,000 jobs and over $4.4 billion in positive economic impact.
Nursing Home Funding - The legislature approved a $74 million dollar inflationary increase to the Medicaid rate for nursing homes. The FCCB worked with several elder advocacy groups to secure this increase, which will help Florida's nursing homes to provide quality services to the elderly in Florida.
VPK Per-Child Scholarships: The Legislature approved a two percent increase to the Base Student Allocation (BSA) for the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program (VPK). For the 2020-2021 school year program, the BSA will increase by $49 to $2,486. For the 2020-2021 summer program, the BSA will increase by $42 to $2,122. The last increase was in 2014, and these increases in the coming fiscal year will allow for enhanced programs.
The following legislative proposals were actively engaged by the FCCB during the Session. For more information on these proposals and the final status of other closely followed bills, see our Legislative Bill Report.