TALAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke for more than an hour about what was in the $116.5 billion he signed Monday, but he left out the most important part of the announcement: what was in the nearly $1 billion that he had vetoed.
Overall, the state spending plan is slightly lower than the current budget and provides a 3% pay increase for state employees and sets aside $1.5 billion to be used for teacher pay increases.
“Overall, I think this is a budget that shows it can be done,” DeSantis said, saying the state will fund major programs, provide tax relief, boost emergency savings and still have a smaller budget.
But he did not address the biggest question budget watchers were waiting for: the cuts. The Legislature passed the budget more than three months ago, and DeSantis has been talking for weeks about what he won’t veto. So the only mystery left when he signed it was what got the axe.
“I even got a text from some Republican colleagues asking, ‘Did you get a list? Did you get a list? Did you get a list?” said Democrat Senator Jason Pizzo.
DeSantis’ office released the veto list about four hours after the governor began his budget signing ceremony in Tampa, about a four-hour drive from the Capitol.
The 16 pages of cuts came largely from local projects and requests from lawmakers, ranging from just $10,500 for a public works generator in Taylor County to $80 million for group insurance for the state university system.
In between were vetoes that denied vehicles to dozens of police and fire departments, $6.4 million to provide free menstrual products to public school students, money for local museums and cultural events, and millions to private nonprofits that help the homeless. the hungry, drug addicts and foster children.
In a show of bipartisanship, the budget passed unanimously in the Senate and by a vote of 105 to 3 in the House of Representatives, where one Republican and two Democrats opposed the spending plan.
But late Monday afternoon, lawmakers were still analyzing the cuts. “I have to look at it more closely,” Pizzo said.
One thing he did notice was that many local infrastructure projects were being demolished.
“While I’m stuck here on a Brightline train because of flooding in my district, all those stormwater projects he cut look pretty stupid right now,” Pizzo said.
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Associated Press writer Stephany Matat in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.