{"id":79524,"date":"2025-12-11T07:31:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T07:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/79524\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T07:31:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T07:31:10","slug":"desantis-recommends-a-117-billion-state-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/79524\/","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis recommends a $117 billion state budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis outlined his proposed $117 billion state budget Wednesday, including recommendations to increase spending on law enforcement as well as investments in campus security for the state\u2019s public universities, following a mass shooting<\/a> at Florida State University in April that killed two<\/a> and injured six others. <\/p>\n

At a press stop in Orlando on Wednesday, DeSantis touted what he said is the state\u2019s fiscal responsibility, as the term-limited executive prepares to leave the state\u2019s top office. The first state budget enacted under DeSantis\u2019 watch in 2019 was about $91 billion. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis budget\u2019s entitled \u2018Floridians First\u2019 because that\u2019s the focus of it. It\u2019s putting our people first and making sure we\u2019re good stewards but also making sure that folks, that the, that the needs that we have are being addressed,\u201d DeSantis said.<\/p>\n

The governor detailed $13.5 million in pay raises for state law enforcement officers, about $1.6 billion in funding for Everglades restoration, water quality and conservation efforts and $1.56 billion for teacher pay increases, as well as new funding to harden the state\u2019s university campuses following the FSU shooting, including $20 million to install door locks in classrooms.<\/p>\n

His spending plan calls for hiring 500 additional corrections officers and prison personnel and an additional $91.7 million for Florida National Guard facilities and guardsmen benefits. Meanwhile, DeSantis has called for eliminating more than 350 state government positions, including county health department jobs.<\/p>\n

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DeSantis has continued his call to slash property taxes in the state, a proposal that Democrats have assailed as an unnecessary move that could threaten the delivery of basic local services. The governor has proposed $300 million to backfill the coffers of the state\u2019s fiscally constrained counties, which are expected to be disproportionately impacted by the reduction or elimination of property taxes, due to their limited tax bases. <\/p>\n

Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell called the proposal a \u201cshell game\u201d that would leave small and rural counties in a \u201cwelfare state,\u201d dependent on state lawmakers to keep their local governments running each year. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not fair to the local elected officials who are trying to serve their communities. And frankly, I think that we should leave property taxes alone and focus on the actual issues of affordability that people care about,\u201d Driskell said.<\/p>\n

DeSantis also defended the state\u2019s multimillion-dollar investment in temporary immigration detention centers, expenses he maintains the federal government will reimburse, and said the state has plans for a fourth detention site in the \u201csouthern half\u201d of the state. The state already is home to a remote detention center in the Everglades dubbed Alligator Alcatraz<\/a>, as well as a retooled state prison<\/a> outside of Jacksonville. State officials had also previously announced plans for an immigration detention site in the western Panhandle that has yet to open.<\/p>\n

A DeSantis administration budget official said Wednesday the federal government has committed to reimbursing the state $608 million for detention center-related costs, though the reimbursements are still being processed. <\/p>\n

___ <\/p>\n

Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press\/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America<\/a> is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis outlined his proposed $117 billion state budget Wednesday, including…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2497,1882,28,30,29,16015,477,4139,1137,30587,99,1840,412,24738,8527,1110],"class_list":{"0":"post-79524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-education-funding","9":"tag-fl-state-wire","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-florida-headlines","12":"tag-florida-news","13":"tag-florida-state-government","14":"tag-general-news","15":"tag-government-budgets","16":"tag-kate-payne","17":"tag-local-news-for-apple","18":"tag-politics","19":"tag-prisons","20":"tag-ron-desantis","21":"tag-school-shootings","22":"tag-taxes","23":"tag-u-s-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}