Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) on Monday signed into law a $117.6 billion budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year. It came after nearly $1.6 billion in line items slipped into the plan by the Republican-led Florida legislature.DeSantis inked the final budget just two days before the fiscal year began on July 1, a delay that came after lawmakers fought over the amount of spending that ultimately led to a deadlock that required a special session in May to resolve.The outgoing governor signed his eighth and final budget in Tampa on Monday, securing a “fully funded rainy day fund” in the plan that will carry his successor through the first six months of the next term.
DeSantis said the budget marks the fourth year in a row that Florida has reduced state spending and includes major funding for education, transportation, law enforcement, and emergency response.“The budget that I’ll sign today, after doing my line-item vetoes, will represent the fourth straight year in Florida that we’ve actually reduced our state budget,” he said. “Who else is doing that?”The governor highlighted $30 billion allocated for K-12 education, which includes $1.56 billion for teacher salaries and $290 million for school safety initiatives, as well as $19.8 million toward a 4% pay raise for state law enforcement officers. Everglades restoration was allotted $665 million in the budget, reaffirming DeSantis’s commitment to projects he has prioritized throughout his two terms.A tax package was signed alongside the state budget that included permanent back-to-school and disaster preparedness sales tax exemptions in addition to renewing sales tax holidays for firearms, ammunition, hunting, fishing, and camping supplies from Sept. 1 through the end of the year.“No question that we’re stronger,” DeSantis said. “No question that we are fiscally responsible. No question that we have met all the challenges that have come before us.”DeSantis, who is viewed as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, also touted his vetoes that axed about $800 million in direct spending, which brings his two-term spending cuts to $10.6 billion.“Just to put that in perspective, if you look at all the governors since 1998 combined up until my tenure, all of those governors — that’s two-term governors and a one-term, so that’s 20 years — they did a total of $5.6 billion in line-item vetoes combined amongst all of them,” he said.A complete list of the spending slashed by DeSantis was not immediately available.DESANTIS PERMANENTLY CLOSES ICE DETENTION CENTER ‘ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ’During the press conference, DeSantis said he vetoed a bill that would have required $50 million in annual funding for the state’s prisons over the next 40 years. Salary hikes for corrections workers were also cut as part of the prison spending veto.The Washington Examiner reached out to DeSantis’s office for comment.
