TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis officially unveiled his full, nearly $100 billion budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year.
DeSantis spoke Thursday at the Florida State Capitol and outlined many of the major parts within his "Freedom First Budget."
According to the governor, the budget totals $99.7 billion, with total reserves exceeding $15 billion.
The governor has also been touring the state announcing parts of the budget over the last several months.
"In Florida, we have put Freedom First – protecting Floridians’ freedom to earn a living, to operate businesses and to choose educational options tailored for their children," DeSantis said in a statement. "As a result of our commitment to freedom, Florida’s economy continues to thrive and Floridians are better able to provide for their families.
"Today, I am proud to announce my budget proposals that will build on our foundation of freedom by investing in priorities that matter to our residents. This budget puts Floridians and their freedoms first, keeps taxes low, and addresses key priorities – all while maintaining record budget reserves."
You can read the full budget here.
Here's a breakdown of some of the major proposals within the budget:
Economy
DeSantis is proposing a fuel tax holiday that will "provide a reprieve from increasing gas prices." According to the governor's office, Floridians will save more than $1 billion as a result.
Additionally, the budget includes getting rid of Florida identification card fees to save Floridians $14.7 million.
- $105 million for the Rural Infrastructure Fund.
- $100 million for the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund.
- $50 million in recurring funding for VISIT Florida.
- $9.27 billion for the State Transportation Work Program.
- $25 million for maintaining and restoring the Freedom Tower.
Education
The governor's office says this budget proposal includes "record funding" for K-12 education.
The proposal includes a second round of $1,000 bonus checks for about 179,000 teachers and principals in Florida. Additionally, the governor says he is asking for $600 million for teacher pay. This would help the state reach a minimum teacher salary of $47,500, the state says.
- At $8,000 per student, DeSantis says the amount would be the highest in Florida's history.
- The Base Student Allocation would increase to $124 per student.
- $421 million for school safety and mental health initiatives. That funding includes $210 million for the safe schools program – an increase of $30 million over the previous year, $140 million for mental health – a $20 million increase over the previous year, $42 million for school hardening grants, and $4 million for safety initiatives at Jewish Day Schools.
- $15.5 million in recurring funding to eliminate the Florida Standards Assessment and implement progress monitoring in its place.
- $500,000 to expand access to the Florida Civics and Debate Initiative into every school district in the 2022-2023 school year.
- $534 million in funding to support workforce education programs.
First responders and law enforcement
- $226.7 million to provide salary increases for those working in public safety – including 25 percent raises for all veteran state sworn law enforcement; 20 percent salary increases for entry-level state sworn law enforcement.
- A $5,000 signing bonus for every recruit who is new to the law enforcement profession in Florida once they complete their training and officially become a law enforcement officer. This would also apply to fully-trained law enforcement officers transferring from out of state.
- Providing the State Officer Certification Exam free of charge to law enforcement officers relocating to Florida and covering the cost of any necessary equivalent training programs for relocating officers, up to $1,000 per officer.
- Creating a law enforcement academy scholarship program to cover the cost of enrollment for men and women seeking to serve their state and communities through police work.
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Military
The proposed budget would also include $100 million for the National Guard.
That money includes provisions for:
- $87.5 million to build three new readiness centers.
- $2.2 million for a new headquarters building for the National Guard Counter-Drug Program.
- $5.1 million to fully support Florida National Guardsmen seeking higher education degrees.
- The budget also includes $5.4 million to establish the Florida State Guard to serve Floridians.
RELATED: Gov. DeSantis says $100 million for National Guard will be part of military budget proposal
Environment
DeSantis says with this upcoming year's budget proposal, his administration is committing $4.4 billion to fund environmental protection and natural resources.
$980 million of that funding would go toward Everglades restoration and protecting Florida's water resources.
That money includes:
- More than $660 million for Everglades restoration.
- $195 million for targeted water quality improvements.
- $35 million to improve water quality and combat the negative impacts of harmful algal blooms, including blue-green algae.
- This includes $5 million in additional funding dedicated to addressing red tide cleanup.
About $3 million is proposed to remove invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades and over $550 million to increase the resiliency of Florida’s coastal and inland communities.
Other aspects of funding include:
- $100 million for the Florida Forever program.
- $51.7 million for infrastructure improvements and natural resource management at our award-winning state parks.
Health care
The proposed budget includes funding for cancer research, Alzheimer's Disease research and child welfare.
- More than $200 million in funding to support direct care workers with pay raises.
- $100 million for cancer research.
- $15 million in funding for Alzheimer’s Disease research to enhance diagnosis and prevention strategies for those Floridians impacted by this disease.
- $188.6 million in behavioral health initiatives including mental health and substance abuse services to ensure Floridians get the help that they need.
- $133 million to provide services to those served by the child welfare system, including foster parent support and adoption subsidies, including:
- $8.9 million towards childcare subsidies for foster parents, assisting them in covering the cost of early education and child care by raising the foster care subsidy up to $300 per month.
- $11.2 million for maintenance adoption subsidies and adoption incentives to aid state employees who make the decision to adopt a child from foster care.