After hours of debate the House has voted down the senate’s healthcare expansion plan, called FHIX. But while the two chambers haven’t come to an agreement on a healthcare plan, they have found some common ground on the general shape of the state’s budget.
In what House Speaker Steve Crisafulli calls the one of the longest floor debates in history, the House took up and voted down a Senate healthcare plan that would have extended healthcare to thousands of uninsured Floridians. The measure failed largely along party lines with a 72-41 vote. But Crisafulli says the discussion was time well used since it helped move both chambers forward.
“That was the issue that was hanging up the regular session and we never had that bill sent over to us to have that debate so we can say that that issue is off the table now and we’re here to go put together a budget that’s a balanced budget for the state of Florida,” Crisafulli says.
Lawmakers are now hammering out the details for a spending plan in budget conferences. They’re scheduled to run through Tuesday at the latest. But that’s just the first step. While some had hoped for an early end of the special session, budget leaders say they expect talks to take almost all of the scheduled days. Special session is scheduled to end June 20 th.
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