House and Senate Leaders Announce Budget Conference Today: April 28
Apr 28, 2009
This morning, Tuesday, April 28, Florida House of Representatives Speaker Larry Cretul and Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater made separate announcements on the release of 2009-2010 budget allocations. Speaker Cretul and President Atwater said the budget conference process will begin this afternoon.
The individual budget conference committees are expected to release their meeting notices at least one hour prior to each meeting. The Senate will host the conference process, and all budget conference committees will meet in the traditional Senate Appropriations Committees rooms.
The Session is expected to be extended into the week of May 4-8, 2009. Members will meet through Noon on Friday, May 1, take the weekend off and return on Thursday, May 7. House and Senate leaders will meet through the weekend, with the budget to be completed by Noon on Tuesday, May 5. The Florida Constitution requires the Legislature to wait 72 hours before voting on the budget. A vote is expected by Friday, May 8.
Governor Charlie Crist released a statement praising lawmakers for the progress:
“I am grateful to the members of the Florida Senate and the Florida House for their continued focus on providing Floridians a responsibly balanced budget and especially for their dedication to an open, transparent process going forward.”
Below is a tentative timeline of the budget conference process.
Tuesday, April 28, late afternoon: Budget conference process begins.
Friday, May 1, Noon: Any unresolved issues will be sent to budget conference chairs.
Sunday, May 3, Noon: Any further unresolved issues will be sent to House and Senate leaders.
Monday, May 4: Conference Committee Reports will go to printers.
Tuesday, May 5, Noon: The public review process, also known as the 72-hour cooling off period, will begin.
Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Frank Mayernick Jr. at Colodny Fass.
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