Session extended after Friday? Democrats warn it’s possible

The Legislature has to finalize an $83 billion budget before midnight tonight, in order for the 2017 session to end on time -- but with that looking increasingly in jeopardy, House Democratic leaders told their caucus Tuesday morning to be prepared to stick around past Friday.

"There's talk of being here this weekend," Democratic Leader Janet Cruz, of Tampa, said. "I hope I'm wrong but I just want you guys to have a heads-up."

"Or Monday," interjected Lantana Rep. Lori Berman, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee. "I heard Monday."

At a Senate Democratic caucus breakfast, senators also circulated a rumor of a possible three-day extension to the session.

Final budget negotiations have been in the hands of House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, and Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, since Sunday afternoon.

But the two presiding officers have yet to meet publicly to wrap up unresolved (and significant) portions of the budget -- not to mention make public and discuss proposed compromises on a slew of budget-related policy bills, many in education.

If Negron and Corcoran cannot agree on a final budget in time, the Legislature can extend the session by a three-fifths vote in both chambers -- a move lawmakers can exercise only once.

If there's still no agreement, the extreme scenario would be for Gov. Rick Scott to issue a proclamation convening a special session, which would mandate lawmakers to return to Tallahassee to agree on a budget before the end of the budget year on June 30.

This story was originally published May 2, 2017 at 11:30 AM with the headline "Session extended after Friday? Democrats warn it’s possible."