SINE DIE SURPRISE: House adjournment blows up session

The Florida House abruptly adjourned its 2015 legislative session Tuesday, leaving town three days early and leaving the Senate with plenty of work to do — possibly in violation of the Florida Constitution.

"That's kind of like a child in a sandbox, if somebody took their toy away," House Minority Leader Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, said of the Republican leadership's decision to pull the plug. "I don't think that it's a thoughtful reaction to what's going on."

What's going on is a dug-in impasse between the House and Senate over expanding the Medicaid program to serve about 800,000 working poor Floridians and funding of a Low Income Pool that reimburses hospitals for treating uninsured indigents. The Senate's $80 billion budget contemplates doing both, while the House budget came in at $76.2 billion without the funding.

Neither chamber has budged for a month. Gov. Rick Scott sides with the House — but he previously supported the Medicaid piece, although he opposes the federal Affordable Care Act at the core of the whole thing.

With the 60-day session called after 57 days, that means a special session is coming in May or June to produce a budget by the end of the fiscal year June 30. In the interim, the governor and members will have to work out some budget compromises, so members can come back to town and enact it quickly.

But it's not clear if the House even left legally.

Article III, Section 3 (e) says, "Neither house shall adjourn for more than seventy-two consecutive hours except pursuant to concurrent resolution."

Senate spokeswoman Katherine Betta said Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, was aware of that provision "but the Senate does not intend to enforce it." The office of House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, could not be reached for comment.

Instead, Gardiner told the Senate it would convene as usual Wednesday and pass some bills. Those that have already been through the House, and aren't amended by the Senate, can go to the governor for signing or veto. Any that aren't word-for-word the way they left the House will have to go back to that chamber for concurrence — and find nobody home.

"We will lay them on their front door," Gardiner said.

After those heavy brass doors swung shut, House Democrats gathered for a giant "selfie," as if to underscore that they were in the Capitol and ready to legislate.

Crisafulli said there will be a special session when the leaders see "a more realistic path" toward a budget deal. Scott has suggested a "continuation budget" to keep other functions of government going, while health care is resolved, but even that would have to be done in a special session.

"I do not see a need to keep you here waiting around, away from your families, away from your businesses, until the Senate decides they are ready to negotiate with us," Crisafulli told the House. "And so having accomplished all that we can do. It's time for us to go home."

As the Senate neared adjournment — just overnight — Gardiner insisted that "nobody won today." He called the House adjournment "unfortunate" but said the Senate would work on.

"We have a job to do so we'll be here tomorrow," Gardiner said, drawing standing applause from the chamber. "It's what taxpayers expect of us and it's what we'll do."