![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/269_Florida_Legislation_Session_2026_MJO.jpg\" "\\"A")
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A view of the Florida Capitol before the start of the legislative session on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Tallahassee, Fla.<\/p>\n
Photo by Matias J. Ocner<\/p>\n
mocner@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
Tallahassee<\/p>\n
Florida\u2019s legislative leaders, after weeks of negotiations and delays, are ready to give Gov. Ron DeSantis his final budget.<\/p>\n
Clocking in at around $114.5 billion, the budget will cover the last months of DeSantis\u2019 tenure as Florida governor and the start of the next administration.<\/p>\n
Like last year, lawmakers couldn\u2019t agree on a plan during the regular 60-day legislative session. Late-night meetings between the House and Senate bled into the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say in January, we had enormous more differences of opinion than we do today,\u201d Sen. Ed Hooper, the head of the Senate appropriations committee, said Sunday. \u201cThis has really been a situation where we have compromised, we have adjusted. If neither of us leave real happy, it\u2019s probably a good deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawmakers intend to vote on the budget on Friday after a required 72-hour \u201ccooling off\u201d and review period. Here\u2019s what to know about what the state could soon fund \u2014 and what lawmakers chose to leave behind.<\/p>\n
Help from artificial intelligence<\/p>\n
Florida lawmakers and DeSantis have been divided on how and where to regulate artificial intelligence<\/a>. But lawmakers in the House and Senate seem to be in alignment on using artificial intelligence for policing, prisons and more.<\/p>\n Lawmakers agreed to put $4 million toward a machine-learning program that will help determine who is eligible for payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.<\/p>\n Florida\u2019s error rate for that program is high, at about 15%. If the state can\u2019t lower that, it could owe the federal government<\/a> about $1 billion based on changes made under President Donald Trump\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.<\/p>\n The Senate also appropriated about $1.5 million for ZeroEyes AI firearm detection technology in four school districts \u2014 with the largest amount, $1 million, going toward Miami-Dade.<\/p>\n ZeroEyes\u2019s website said it provides software for surveillance camera systems, using AI and human verification to alert when a gun is detected. Franklin, Hernando and Seminole counties are also getting money for this program.<\/p>\n The House directed $4 million to a \u201cnon-lethal\u201d remote artificial intelligence program in Florida prisons that aims to reduce assaults, according to a House budget document. It\u2019s not clear what that would look like. It would be a pilot program at a men\u2019s prison of the state\u2019s choice.<\/p>\n AIDS drug program accountability<\/p>\n The Florida Department of Health made dramatic cuts<\/a> this year to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, which gives HIV-positive Floridians access to life-saving medication.<\/p>\n Lawmakers now are poised to put aside $75 million to keep the program running \u2014 and are demanding a detailed report about its past and future.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a program that\u2019s been around for decades that people relied on to save their life,\u201d said Michael Rajner, an ADAP enrollee who has lobbied lawmakers about the program. \u201cIt\u2019s a program worth fighting for.\u201d<\/p>\n In January, the health department blamed rising healthcare costs when it announced cuts, reducing eligibility thresholds that stood to cut off about 12,000 Floridians from access to affordable life-saving drugs.<\/p>\n Florida\u2019s planned cuts went far beyond those of any other state<\/a>. Months before announcing proposed cuts, the department forced out key AIDS Drug Assistance employees.<\/p>\n