House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, indicated Wednesday afternoon that legislative leaders have reached agreement on a budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
The announcement came after House and Senate negotiators failed to finalize a budget before a Tuesday deadline, forcing an extension of the 60-day legislative session.
"We do believe that as of right now we have agreement on the budget," Corcoran said about 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, drawing applause from House members.
"We will keep you posted as to what our timing in terms of extending to get it done. We’re still working on that with staff and trying to figure out how long it takes."
Meeting the Tuesday deadline would have given lawmakers enough time to adhere to a mandated 72-hour cooling-off period before a final budget vote on Friday, the last scheduled day of the 2018 session.
