Starting the veto clock? Rick Scott likely to get budget Tuesday

As the long Memorial Day weekend got underway Friday, the biggest and most controversial piece of legislation to emerge from the 2017 session, the budget, was still in the Senate’s hands — a safe distance from Gov. Rick Scott’s veto pen.

A knowledgeable Capitol source says the Senate plans to deliver the $82.4 billion budget to Scott next Tuesday, May 30 (Senate President Joe Negron’s office did not confirm that timetable). If that happens, a 15-day clock begins ticking and Scott would have until June 14 to act, but what are expected to be extensive line-item vetoes, along with a possible veto of the K-12 public education funding formula, won’t take the governor nearly that long. Last year, Scott issued $256 million in promised vetoes even before he received the budget.

Staffers in the governor’s budget office have been poring over the nearly 500-page budget line-by-line since it was approved May 8, and lawmakers and their staffs report being asked about specific projects.

Lawmakers interpret that as a clear sign that Scott has no plans to veto the entire spending plan and will instead carry out “surgical but massive” vetoes in a year in which the Legislature resolutely ignored all three of Scott’s priorities. It will be interesting to see whether Scott axes line-item spending for transportation, economic development and other hometown projects supported by one of his closest allies in the Capitol, Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater.

If Scott does veto the K-12 budget silo, known as the Florida Education Funding Program, or FEFP, a political struggle could ensue between the governor and Legislature over where to find the extra money to increase the per-student spending formula, and the Legislature would have to reconvene in June to adopt a new education budget more to Scott’s liking. The new fiscal year begins July 1.

Apart from all the pending budget drama, legislators are considering holding a special session the week of June 12 or June 19 to tackle the unfinished business of implementing the voters’ will on Amendment 2, which legalizes medical marijuana in Florida.

This story was originally published May 26, 2017 at 8:48 PM with the headline "Starting the veto clock? Rick Scott likely to get budget Tuesday."