After months of conflict among Florida’s top Republicans, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Florida's new spending plan just days before the start of the new fiscal year. DeSantis used his line-item veto power to cut about $1.6 billion dollars in spending, including $810 million in member projects across the state--including several tied to Tallahassee and Leon County.
DeSantis says many of the projects were nice to have, but he says he’s committed to tamping down on state spending.
“Some of the stuff wasn't necessarily bad," the governor said. "It's just that I set a target to be underneath current year budget, so we had to get to that level. Some of the things were plausible but you just have to make decisions."
After the cuts, the new budget comes in at about $117 billion dollars. That’s just a couple billion more than last year’s budget.
DeSantis’ says the state is spending less in his tenure when adjusted for inflation.
“If you just kept spending constant from where we were four years ago, and just based on inflation, that would have put us to 132 point 5 billion. So we are not only spending less in nominal terms, which we are, but really far less in terms of inflation-adjusted.”
Among the largest local cuts were investments in higher education and scientific research at Florida State University and the FAMU–FSU College of Engineering.
FSU lost $2.5 million that would have expanded its College of Nursing. The proposal was aimed at increasing training opportunities as Florida continues to grapple with healthcare workforce shortages.
DeSantis also vetoed an $850,000 ask for Wakulla Springs remediation research. The desired research comes as Wakulla Springs remains an important economic driver for the region. According to FSU researchers, the state park contributes about $20 million each year to the local economy and supports 276 jobs.
The governor also struck $2 million in funding for research at the FAMU–FSU College of Engineering. The projects included $500,000 to study how cancer drugs perform in microgravity, $1 million for research into immunotherapy treatments for tumors in space environments and another $500,000 to build a Space Medicine Innovation Ecosystem.
Outside the university system, several Leon County infrastructure and environmental projects also lost funding.
Projects designed to improve outdoor recreation, protect infrastructure and preserve local landmarks were among those left without funding. That includes $400,000 for an expansion of the Orchard Pond Parkway Trail, $409,000 for drainage and erosion control work in Tallahassee, and projects in St. Marks that include a new river boardwalk and restoration of
