In final State of the State, Gov. DeSantis says his tenure delivered for Floridians

In his final State of the State address as Governor, a defiant Ron DeSantis defended the controversial Hope Florida charity and proclaimed that he has delivered “big results” during his time in office.

“We have set the standard for the rest of the country to follow. We are the Free State of Florida,” DeSantis said in his 30-minute speech addressing lawmakers on the opening day of the 2026 Session.

DeSantis urged the Legislature to pass bills on illegal immigration, eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs, expanding gun rights and supporting the state’s rural areas. 

“My message is simple. Get the bills to my desk,” DeSantis said. “In the spirit of 1776, I’m happy to put my John Hancock on those pieces of legislation.”

In the debate on how to provide property tax relief, DeSantis’ tone has, at times, been combative and critical of his own political party.

On Tuesday, his approach was different.

“The Legislature has the ability to place a measure on the ballot to provide transformational relief for taxpayers. Let’s resolve to all work together, get something done and let the people have a say,” DeSantis said. 

DeSantis credited his wife, First Lady Casey DeSantis, and Hope Florida for helping Floridians get off public assistance to save the state $130 million annually, he said.

“We have proven that a hand up is better than a handout,” DeSantis said.

Following DeSantis’ speech, Democrats struck back to offer their own take on the Hope Florida scandal.

“The Governor remains completely out of touch with reality. Eight years of his ineffective and dangerous leadership has left Florida less affordable and more corrupt,” Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman said. She said millions of dollars were illegally funneled to a political committee controlled by DeSantis’ then Chief of Staff, James Uthmeier. Berman noted that Uthmeier was later appointed by DeSantis to be Florida’s Attorney General.

In the rest of the State of the State address, DeSantis called for oversight on artificial intelligence as he warned about the new technology’s dangers. 

“Artificial intelligence is touted as being the key to curing cancer and expanding America’s military edge over arrivals, and perhaps this will be true. But this technology also threatens to upend key parts of our economy in ways that could leave many Americans out of work and with consumers footing the bill for the cost of power-intensive data centers,” DeSantis said.

“As AI chatbots have already been linked to teen suicides, it can also further devolve our society into a focus not on substance, but on online slop.”

The state has already turned over 20,000 undocumented immigrants to the federal government to be deported, DeSantis said.

Before the history books weigh in on the legacy of the DeSantis administration, the Governor described what he called a fiscally responsible state that promotes school choice and is winning cultural wars.

The state said the state has more than tripled its rainy-day fund and paid off nearly half of the state’s taxpayer supported debt, DeSantis said.

“Because the Legislature has supported efforts to accelerate repayment of this debt, we’ve saved more than $1 billion on principal and interest costs,” DeSantis said. “We’ve defeated attempts to force boys into girls’ sports, to inject gender ideology into elementary schools and deny parents the right to direct the education and upbringing of their children. We have ensured that our schools have a duty to educate, not a right to indoctrinate.”

One of the state’s crowning achievements has been Everglades restoration, DeSantis said.

“Even the flamingos have returned inside the Glades,” DeSantis said. “This has been the largest environmental restoration in the entire country. You can now walk into the swamp, sit on a cypress stump and see nature healing. The ghost of Osceola need cry no more.”

With America’s semiquincentennial upon us, DeSantis weaved in references to the Founding Fathers, a favorite topic of his, throughout the speech.

“We are the keepers of the flame of liberty that burned in Philadelphia in July of 1776,” DeSantis said. “We will not allow the flame to go out. We will answer the call. We will go forward with courage. We will take bold action. We will get the job done.”