Gov. Ron DeSantis signs 2024-2025 FY Budget in Tampa on June 12, 2024 (photo credit: Mitch Perry)
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Tampa on Wednesday to sign a $116.5 billion state budget (HB 5001) for fiscal year 2024- 25, boasting about providing “historic support” for education, transportation, conservation, and the environment, plus tax relief, while also taking credit for spending slightly fewer state funds than a year before.
“Aren’t you happy to see that?” he said to applause from the invited crowd at the Vault in downtown Tampa.
DeSantis said that he had told House Speaker Paul Renner that “I want to hold the line,” and said that he had close to $1 billion in line-item vetoes. “Some of the stuff wasn’t appropriate for state tax dollars,” he said, although by midafternoon his office hadn’t released his veto list.
The fiscal year opens in July 1.
Joined by Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Shawn Hamilton, Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., and Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue, DeSantis spent approximately an hour reciting the amounts his administration was allocating for various departments.
On education, the budget includes $28.4 billion in K-12 school spending, an increase of $1.8 billion from a year ago. That includes $1.25 billion directly for teacher salaries, a $200 million increase from a year ago. DeSantis then spent several minutes blasting the teacher unions regarding that funding.
“It’s not enough to say, ‘Oh, we’re giving money to education, because what happens is, the districts and unfortunately these unions can haggle over this, and they basically try to benefit themselves. So, you can increase funding for education, and unless you mandate that some of that goes to teachers, some of it doesn’t even go to teachers. Sometimes they never do anything for teachers, so this has to go. That’s the only thing they can do.”
In a press release, Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar said that this “$200 million equates to a salary increase in every classroom teacher’s paycheck of about $125 a month, and nowhere near the $15,000 annual increase needed to match the national average for teacher salaries. The only thing the budget guarantees is that Florida’s teachers will remain near the bottom in average pay.”
DeSantis mentioned legislation he signed in 2023 that prevents union dues from being deducted from teachers’ paychecks.
“You don’t have to write a check to a school union if they’re not serving your interest, and I would note that there were school unions in this state when last year’s categorical came out of a billion dollars, that money was there. Teachers were going to get more money,” he said.
“They were withholding that in negotiations to try to use that for leverage for other parts of their agenda. I tell ya, if you’re looking out for the best interests of the teachers, you would have gotten that money in their pocket by July 1, as soon as it became available. That’s not what some of them chose to do.”
Water
There was $1.7 billion allocated towards water quality and $740 million for Everglades restoration.
“Gov. DeSantis has continued to fulfill the promises that he made to Floridians by advocating for and securing a budget that contains over $740 million for Everglades restoration, as well as funding for resiliency and statewide environmental efforts,” said Everglades Trust CEO Anna Upton in a press release.
“It’s been clear from the beginning that he understands the importance of the Everglades — to our economy and environment — and has continually sought to push restoration forward,” Upton said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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