Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference Aug. 12, 2025, in Tampa. | Chris O'Meara, AP file
Published on December 11, 2025 at 9:50 am
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Florida 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’s public universities, after a mass shooting at Florida State University in April that killed two and injured six others.
At a press stop in Orlando on Wednesday, DeSantis touted what he said is the state’s fiscal responsibility, as the term-limited executive prepares to leave the state’s top office. The first state budget enacted under DeSantis’ watch in 2019 was about $91 billion.
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“This budget’s entitled ‘Floridians First’ because that’s the focus of it. It’s putting our people first and making sure we’re good stewards but also making sure that folks, that the needs that we have are being addressed,” DeSantis said.
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’s university campuses after the FSU shooting, including $20 million to install door locks in classrooms.
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.
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DeSantis and property taxes
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’s fiscally constrained counties, which are expected to be disproportionately affected by the reduction or elimination of property taxes, due to their limited tax bases.
Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell called the proposal a “shell game” that would leave small and rural counties in a “welfare state,” dependent on state lawmakers to keep their local governments running each year.
“That’s 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,” Driskell said.
DeSantis also defended the state’s 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 “southern half” of the state. The state already is home to a remote detention center in the Everglades dubbed Alligator Alcatraz, as well as a retooled state prison in Baker County. State officials had also previously announced plans for an immigration detention site in the western Panhandle that has yet to open.
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.
