TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The $117.4 billion Florida budget was finally approved Monday, less than 24 hours before it was set to take effect.
Governor Ron DeSantis announced nearly $600 million in budget vetoes during the signing ceremony, including some projects here in Northeast Florida.
For the second year in a row, Florida will spend less money than it did the year prior.
“Just New York City alone, I think they have eight million people, that budget is more than the State of Florida’s entire budget or 23.5 million people,” said Governor DeSantis.
Trimming off the fat with his veto pen, Governor Ron DeSantis cut the $117.9 billion budget passed by lawmakers earlier this month by nearly $567 million.
“And you know, some of the stuff I don’t think should have been in the budget for sure, but some of it wasn’t bad, but I felt it was important to get the budget spending in line with my recommendation,” said Governor DeSantis.
Among those cuts were at least $7.5 million in budget requests here in Northeast Florida.
Some of those cuts included $400,000 for a food program geared towards older adults, more than $92,000 for an industrial agriculture program at First Coast Technical College, $2 million for a drainage improvement project on Armsdale Road, and $2.7 million for a nursing program at Jacksonville University.
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Meanwhile, many local requests appear to have survived, despite landing on Florida TaxWatch’s list of recommended cuts earlier this month.
$750,000 for the USS Orleck, $2.5 million for the new MOSH and $14.8 million for the Hicks Honors College Academic Building at UNF all appear to have been spared.
The Governor also green lit $1 million for phase one of the proposed Florida Museum of Black History in West Augustine.
Meanwhile, a $750,000 allocation that would have funded the museum’s construction in Opa-Locka was nixed.
The budget also includes an increase of $100 million for teacher pay raises and $20 million to continue the state’s law enforcement recruitment bonus program.
There’s also $1.3 billion in tax cuts, including a one-month permanent back-to-school sales tax holiday, year-round sales tax elimination on various hurricane preparation supplies, and a one-time sales tax holiday for outdoor and hunting supplies.
“Firearms, ammunition, accouterment, as well as other outdoor items like fishing and bow hunting things are going to be tax free from September 8th until December 31st of this year,” said DeSantis.
The Governor vetoed $1 million intended to fund a study on the elimination of property taxes.
DeSantis, who supports eliminating property taxes, argued it would have been unnecessary. He vowed lawmakers will work to put an amendment on next year’s ballot addressing property tax costs during the next session.
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