MARCO ISLAND, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis claimed Florida's next state budget would offer residents more than $1 billion in tax relief and ways to reduce the cost of homeowner's insurance.
He made the proposal an appearance Tuesday morning at the Marco Island Charter Middle School near Naples as he publicly announced details of the 2024-25 "Focus on Florida's Future" budget recommendation, which totals $114.4 billion. Lawmakers will pore over the details in the coming weeks before ultimately passing a budget during next year's legislative session.
"The state is in really good fiscal shape," DeSantis declared, "and that's not true for most states around this country."
DeSantis noted the state's high credit rating and touted the state's "#1 ranking" in multiple areas nationwide, including the economy, public universities, new business and entrepreneurship, though he only cited U.S. News & World Report and its annual college rankings.
The governor also touted the state's fiscal responsibility and reduction of government size as reasons behind Florida's strong standing. He emphasized the budget's $1.1 billion in tax relief, which he claimed included means of reducing the cost of homeowner's insurance by implementing a one-year exemption on taxes, fees and assessments for policies.
Among the forms of tax relief proposed in the budget were sales tax holidays — such as back-to-school and disaster preparedness — and a permanent sales tax exclusion on all over-the-counter pet medicines, a measure DeSantis had proposed in the previous fiscal year budget, along with the sales tax exclusion for baby items.
DeSantis also said the budget would provide scholarships for K-12 students and a $200 million increase in teacher salaries, as well as $1.6 billion in funding for early childhood education.
Notably, he also touted the state's Fund Bright Futures grant program as well as a "review process" for tenured professors that could ultimately cost them their jobs if they are poorly reviewed.
"Everyone's been complaining for years about college professors trying to indoctrinate. That's not what we want with your tax dollars," DeSantis said. "There's been a lot of gnashing of teeth in the media about this, but just understand: If you have Marxist professors leaving, that is a gain for the state of Florida."
According to a National Education Association estimate through April 2023, Florida public school teacher salaries ranked 48th in the nation. The Florida Education Association noted that by the time the fall 2024 semester started, the state had 7,000 open teacher positions and 5,000 additional school staff positions unfilled as state-imposed teaching restrictions, content bans and school board interference drove thousands of instructors away.
DeSantis also said the budget would fund the state's efforts to get veterans and first responders hired for teaching jobs.
Among the universities DeSantis singled out for comment was Florida State University, which had made headlines for being snubbed from the college football playoffs despite being an undefeated team.
"I don't know what goes into that decision-making," DeSantis said. "There's a happy medium between having a playoff, to where the regular season doesn't mean anything anymore. If you win, that should be significant. They're telling us that other factors matter more."
DeSantis also said he'd allocated $1 million into the budget for possible lawsuits over the exclusion of the Seminoles from the playoffs.