TALLAHASSEE — Without warning, public debate or coordination with the Senate, the Florida House late Thursday released an austere $113.6 billion spending plan for next year that does not fund key priorities of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The House’s budget for 2026-27, released while DeSantis was in California participating in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament, slashes the fund the governor used for immigration enforcement, including the building of Alligator Alcatraz, the Everglades immigration detention facility, and provides no money for the Florida State Guard, which he revived in 2022 and has been rocked by allegations of mismanagement in recent months.
The budget plan also orders the Department of Children and Families to return $76.8 million to the opioid settlement trust fund that it didn’t spend this year. The agency has come under fire for spending $4.9 million of that money on an anti-marijuana campaign, which it never told the advisory council that oversees the trust fund about, as required by law.
The House budget comes in at about $4 billion less than the governor’s proposed spending plan for the last year of his tenure and is about $1 billion less than the plan approved last year for the 2025-26 budget year.
The Senate’s $115 billion budget released Friday afternoon suggests the two chambers are not fully aligned. The Senate, for example, provides $33.9 million for the state guard, still a sharp cut from DeSantis’ request. And it wants to give him $250 million for emergency preparedness.
A preliminary review of the House plan shows only $100 million going into the emergency preparedness fund managed by DeSantis, where it had been giving him about $500 million a year.
It also comes with new restrictions on how to use that money. The House wants that money spent only on declared natural disasters and says it cannot be spent on aircraft, boats and motor vehicles. Also, any federal reimbursements cannot go back into the emergency fund but must be returned to the state general fund.
The House plan would also require the governor to report back to the Legislature each year how that money was spent, its remaining fund balance, and an inventory of all equipment and assets, and provide a written statement from the emergency management director, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the report is true, accurate, and complete.
The governor’s office and Division of Emergency Management have come under fire for spending $608 million of that money on immigration enforcement efforts, including the construction of the $573 million tent city facility in the Everglades, with no guarantee of reimbursement from the federal government.
The legislature has given DeSantis $4.7 billion since the inception of the emergency management fund.
The House plan also doesn’t provide any funding for the mostly volunteer Florida State Guard. As the Orlando Sentinel has reported, it has faced allegations by top officers of fraud, mismanagement of funds and safety problems. DeSantis revived the guard after it had been dormant for 75 years after its creation during World War II and was requesting nearly $63 million for next year.
Its budget has fluctuated since its initial startup of $10 million. It received $107 million its second year to purchase equipment, then was drastically reduced to $19.6 million the following year before rising again to $36.8 million in 2025-26.
The House announcement Thursday afternoon caught the Senate off guard, forcing its leaders to scramble to release their version of the state budget Friday and causing some obvious tension between the two chambers reminiscent of last year’s disputes over tax plans and budget priorities.
“As you are aware, we had been hoping to release our budget proposal in concert with our partners in the House,” Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, said in a memo to state senators Thursday night.
The House and Senate must both agree on a spending plan before sending it to the governor. Last year, the budget process went into overtime as the two chambers fought over sales taxes and clashed with DeSantis. As a result, the budget wasn’t approved until June.
This year’s regular 60-day legislative session started off with DeSantis snubbing House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, when he stepped up to the podium in the House Chamber to deliver his state-of-the-state address.
Perez had a falling out with DeSantis last year over immigration laws and an investigation into the first lady’s favorite charity, Hope Florida.
The original Senate plan was to roll out the budget Feb. 4, but then the chamber pushed that release date back to Thursday. The Senate then moved its release date until next week “when it became clear” that the House wasn’t going to release its budget proposals during their committee hearings Thursday.
“The budget is a joint endeavor, and as a sign of mutual respect, and with deference to the House hosting the budget conference this year, our goal had been to coordinate and not move forward in advance of our partners,” Albritton said.
He said the Senate was prepared for flexibility “to maintain a deliberative and transparent process and provide the opportunity for ongoing input from all Senators and their constituents.”
,“]
The Legislature’s only constitutional duty is to pass a balanced budget.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Leave a Reply