A proposal to provide $500 million that the governor could immediately access during emergencies is now ready to be considered by the Florida House.

The House Appropriations Committee on Monday backed a pair of measures (HB 7023 and HB 7025) that would move $500 million in state general revenue into a new emergency fund that the governor could tap.

Lawmakers initially considered providing $1 billion, but the amount was cut in half in the Senate, which approved its version of the proposal (SB 96 and SB 98) on Jan. 19. The House committee followed suit Monday, readying the issue for the House floor.

House sponsor Dana Trabulsy, R-Fort Pierce, said the reduction was based on feedback from other lawmakers and that the creation of the fund would put "guardrails" on the governor's spending abilities during emergencies.

The proposed pool of money would be separate from the state's Budget Stabilization Fund, which is considered a "rainy day" fund, with an anticipation that any money spent during an emergency would be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Currently, the Joint Legislative Budget Commission, made up of House and Senate members, can approve mid-year budget changes, including for disaster situations, though it does not meet frequently.

Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat who voted against the proposal, said he was concerned about legislative oversight.

"I'm trying to understand how we are getting more legislative input and more legislative oversight in the appropriation of these funds and not less," Smith said. "My reading of the bill is that we're delegating significant appropriation authority to the governor."

Senators reduced the proposed amount of the fund from $1 billion to $500 million after lawmakers from both parties questioned the oversight of the money.

When the proposal was before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Jan. 12, Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, suggested putting $200 million into the fund and keeping the other $800 million in reserves to be deployed as needed.

"If it was your kids that were coming to you for a loan, you'd say, 'Let me know where the money is being spent after you spent a little bit of it.' This is not your kids. This is the government," Brandes told the committee. "Don't you think in that scenario you would want a little more control, a little more oversight, and a little bit more of the great Appropriations Committee staff that we have to dig into the numbers to make sure that the money is being spent appropriately?"

Lawmakers approved an emergency-fund proposal last year, but Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed it after questions were raised about directly using federal stimulus dollars for the fund. The difference this year is that the money would come from general revenue and not federal dollars.

Jim Turner reports for the News Service of Florida.

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