Legislature passes $114.5B budget after delays

The Legislature has passed a $114.5 billion budget, marking the end of a drawn-out process that required overtime to finish.

The Senate voted unanimously, while the House vote was a divided 99-6, with Democrats making up all six “no” votes.

Republicans hailed the spending plan as a responsible, balanced budget that’s smaller than last year’s total while still supporting education, public safety and healthcare.

Democrats pushed back and argued the budget doesn’t address widespread abuse of Florida’s universal choice vouchers, nor does it help regular people struggling in an affordability crisis.

Senate President Ben Albritton, a citrus farmer, praised a $196 million allotment to support the struggling citrus industry.

“Research and new technologies offer renewed hope for the future of Florida citrus, and with this key funding, our state will lead the way in pursuing these opportunities. We’re on the edge of something special,” Albritton said. “Florida citrus is making a comeback, one tree at a time.”

Republicans also pointed to $30 billion for public schools and K-12 taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools in the 2026-27 budget.

“Florida taxpayers will make an unprecedented investment in our children’s education,” said Republican Sen. Danny Burgess, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Pre-K-12 Education.

But Democrats voiced their frustrations that Florida is spending more taxpayer money on private school vouchers, with about $4.5 billion appropriated in the 2026-27 budget compared to $3.8 billion last year.

“I think if we have a problem with public schools, we should fix them,” Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman said. “And that’s where that $4 billion dollars should go and not to be paying and subsidizing private school tuition.”

The two chambers failed to reach a budget deal when the 60-day Regular Session ended in March. They returned this month for a Special Session that concluded with Friday’s vote.

Democrats and Republicans alike in the Senate also voiced concerns that the Legislature failed to add oversight to track taxpayer dollars on vouchers.

“I won’t try to sugarcoat it,” Burgess said during Friday’s debate. “There’s still a lot that we feel that we need to address, but we’ll have to look to do that maybe next year.”

A bill cleared the Senate, then died in the House, during the Regular Session this year to add more transparency for school choice vouchers. Republican Sen. Don Gaetz, who sponsored the bill, said 30,000 students can’t be accounted for in the Florida Department of Education’s system any given week.

The budget also includes a $75 million investment for public schools for a declining enrollment stabilization fund.

Republican Sen. Alexis Calatayud touted that fund, as well as the budget fully funding $70.8 million for State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) money and $165.7 million in State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) dollars to tackle affordable housing. 

“These are really important to Miami,” she said.

One education item cut from the budget: preeminent funding for Florida’s top universities, like the University of Florida, Florida State University and, new to the list, the University of Central Florida.

There were also clear winners and losers on which employees get salary increases.

State employees will miss out on across-the-board raises, while Florida Highway Patrol troopers and other state law enforcement officers, state park rangers, and state firefighters will receive 4% pay increases.

Assistant State Attorneys’ pay increases by $10,000, while Assistant Public Defenders will only get a $3,500 increase.

“It is quite upsetting, as someone who is a former Public Defender, understanding that the Public Defenders Association came out here and asked for parity,” said Democratic Rep. Michele Rayner. “People who are charged with a crime, they deserve to have representation. It’s part of the Constitution.”

Equality Florida celebrated $75 million in the state budget for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program to help Floridians pay for their HIV medication. That funding was previously in jeopardy and required a late bipartisan amendment in March to save it temporarily.

Sprinkled into the budget was also $10 million for Sarasota’s Nathan Benderson Park to build an indoor sports complex for pickleball and other sports as lawmakers sought to rebrand the project as an emergency shelter.

The families of the Groveland Four are also set to receive $4 million to split nearly 80 years after the atrocities in Lake County that cost four Black men their lives or their freedom. 

The budget also gave $20 million for arts and cultural grants to support local theaters, museums, science centers, dance and other arts.

After Friday’s passage, the next question is what Gov. Ron DeSantis decides to veto. He holds line-item veto authority and teased that cuts are coming.

House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell told reporters Friday that she feared DeSantis, who is term-limited, will try to use the threat of his veto over lawmakers during next week’s Special Session on lower property taxes.

“We cannot govern by fear,” Driskell said.

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Jesse Mendoza of Florida Politics contributed to this report.