HIGHLIGHTS -

Only one week remains in this year’s Legislative Session in Florida. A focal point of the penultimate week of session was on budget negotiations, with joint conference committees holding their first meetings on Tuesday morning. Conference meetings continued through Thursday, and remaining points of contention within budget silos are now the responsibility of the budget committee chairs. Aside from the budget, lawmakers spent the entirety of their work days on the chamber floors this week, debating and taking votes on legislation in its final stages of the process. Being an election year, members who have reached their term limit were also celebrated during floor sessions this week. Final meetings of the chambers’ largest committees, such as Appropriations and State Affairs, were held on Monday and Tuesday. Next week will be largely the same, with only five business days remaining to pass legislation and the budget through both chambers before Sine Die.