House approves SB 2510, votes to enter budget conference and extends session after dispute with Senate

The Florida House on a voice and recorded vote approved Senate Bill 2510, a PreK-through-12 conforming bill tied to budget language, and voted to enter a budget conference with the Senate as leaders adopted a concurrent resolution extending the 2025 regular session to 11:59 p.m. on Monday, June 30, 2025.

Representative Persis Mullica, sponsor of the motion to place the Senate measure in the proper posture for conference, said, "Members, this is the senate's pre k through 12 conforming bill that addresses funding policies in the budget." The House read SB 2510 twice by title, adopted a strike-all blank amendment to put the bill in conference posture, and on final passage recorded 88 yays and 10 nays, which the clerk announced as the bill's passage.

Speaker Daniel Perez framed the floor action within a broader budget dispute with the Senate, accusing the upper chamber of breaking a prior agreement. "Unfortunately, as you are already aware, the senate broke the deal that we had reached on day 60 and blew up our budget framework," Perez said on the floor. He urged members to continue pursuing reduced state spending and outlined legislative options the House has proposed, including a lean critical-needs budget that would bank excess funds into reserves and a package of tax reductions and reforms.

Perez listed House ideas intended to curb growth in state government spending, saying they included eliminating the business rent tax, eliminating the communications services tax, eliminating the gross receipts tax, and increasing corporate income tax exemption levels. He also said the House had advanced property tax relief options, including a proposal to redirect local tourist development tax revenue toward lowering property taxes. "TDT reform is 1 of the few options in our direct control as tourist development taxes are authorized by state statute," Perez said.

Representative Garrison moved that the House accede to the Senate's request for a budget conference after the passage of SB 2510; the motion was approved by voice vote. Garrison then introduced House Concurrent Resolution HCR 1633, which he described as identical to a previously passed concurrent resolution but extended the 2025 regular session until 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 06/30/2025; the House adopted the resolution by voice vote.

During floor debate, Representative Gant asked what changes in the Senate bill were not in the House bill; Representative Persis Mullica responded that the two chambers had split conforming matters differently, and this measure puts the second Senate conforming bill into the proper posture for conference. Representative F. Robinson asked whether the bill affected Accelerated Programs funding; Persis Mullica said the Senate bill included provisions that shorten waiting periods for acceleration courses, reduce some funding, and change policies related to the CAPE program.

The House's next steps are procedural: SB 2510 will proceed to the budget conference committee and implementation of any budgetary changes will depend on the outcome of those negotiations with the Senate. The concurrent resolution extending the session keeps the legislature in regular session through June 30 to allow further negotiation and possible passage of a final budget package.

The House adjourned after adopting the session-extension resolution and taking several committee- and subcommittee-related motions to reconvene upon the call of the chair.