When Florida lawmakers begin budget conference talks Tuesday, a priority of Senate President Ben Albritton to improve health care in rural areas looks to be off the table.
Lawmakers aren’t expected to approve Albritton’s “rural renaissance” plan, which seeks to also bolster education, transportation and economic development in rural areas.
Albritton’s proposal included $25 million for mobile health care units and telehealth kiosks and $25 million to help physicians and advanced registered nurse practitioners start practices in the state’s more sparsely populated areas
The Senate passed the proposal in March, but the House put pieces of the plan in different bills.
The proposal — and an overall budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year — did not pass before the scheduled May 2 end of the legislative session.
Senate spokeswoman Katie Betta said in an email Monday that Albritton intends to revive the rural proposal next year.
“The president remains committed to passing the legislation when the Legislature returns in early 2026,” Betta wrote.
Betta said Albritton and Sen. Corey Simon, a Tallahassee Republican who sponsored the rural renaissance bill, had a call with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to discuss expanding parts of the proposal on a national scale.
“They are looking forward to working with USDA in the interim to make this legislation a reality not only here in Florida, but across the nation,” Betta wrote.
Albritton, whose represents Wauchula and other rural areas, pledged last year to focus on helping Florida’s rural areas.
“Florida’s legacy rural communities offer a time-honored way of life worth preserving in modern Florida," he said in February. "Our rural communities are full of opportunity, but that doesn’t mean traditional development."
Meantime, after weeks of behind-the-scenes talks, Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez announced Friday night they had reached an agreement on a framework that will allow conference committees to start hammering out details of the budget and related bills.
After negotiations, lawmakers are expected to vote June 16 on the budget. The 2025-26 fiscal year will start July 1.