Florida House leaders are being criticized for a closed-door meeting of Republican lawmakers to talk about healthcare issues.
State law requires most meetings between elected officials to be public. But House Speaker Steve Crisafulli says no policy pending before the chamber was discussed, and he believes the closed meeting was appropriate.
“Our general counsel went through my talking points. I was very scripted. And he said everything we were doing in that meeting was perfectly within the confines of the law,” said Crisafulli.
House Republicans talked about the Senate’s Medicaid expansion plan and ongoing negotiations over federal funding for uncompensated hospital care. The House has neither plan in its budget, while the Senate has both—leading to a budget standoff between the two chambers. There are concerns the state may not have a budget by the start of the July 1 fiscal year.
