TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida legislators are unlikely to end their 60-day annual session on time due to an ongoing deadlock over the state budget.
House and Senate Republican leaders are at a stalemate over how the state should pay hospitals that treat Medicaid patients. The Senate and House passed rival $87 billion budgets that have different funding formulas.
Legislators needed to have all work on a budget done Tuesday in order to vote this Friday. Florida has a 72-hour "cooling off period" to make sure everyone is able to read the budget before the final vote.
This is the second year in a row that the GOP-controlled Legislature has been unable to wrap up its budget work within the two-month long session.
It's not yet clear if legislators will extend their annual session.
