WEEKLY ROUNDUP
Wielding a big axe
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a record-high state budget on Thursday, but not before axing more than a half-billion dollars from the spending plan — drawing criticism from some lawmakers and state officials whose projects were cut.
The governor, who largely has been on the campaign trail outside Florida after last month announcing his 2024 presidential run, didn’t give any explanation for projects he slashed for the fiscal year that begins July 1. DeSantis’ line-item vetoes put the state budget at roughly $116.5 billion, representing a 6 percent increase from the current year.
Before putting his signature on the budget at a bill-signing event at the Pelican Yacht Club in Fort Pierce, DeSantis cast Florida’s fiscal approach as the antithesis to that of President Joe Biden and large states run by Democrats.
“You’re not going to see us have the type of problems that these other states have with fiscal insolvency, driving people away,” DeSantis said. “I mean our tax base is expanding, business investments (are) terrific. And of course, this budget is in fantastic shape.”
The governor used the appearance to tout “record” environmental spending, pay increases for state law enforcement officers and teachers, $4 billion to hasten construction on road projects, and a third year of $1,000 bonuses for law enforcement officers and firefighters throughout the state.
DeSantis during the media event did not mention the numerous vetoes, instead releasing the list of cuts hours after his appearance.
The largest item on the chopping block was $100 million for “Conservation And Rural Land Protection” easements, a program championed by Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson. The program, launched in 2001, involves purchasing conservation easements that allow landowners to continue farming and cattle operations in exchange for not developing the property.
Simpson, a Republican who served two years as Senate president prior to his election to the Cabinet post in November, criticized the governor’s veto as harmful to the state’s $180 billion agriculture industry.
“There is no conceivable reason to target agriculture in a year when we have billions of dollars in reserves,” Simpson, an egg farmer, said in a statement. “Agriculture was harmed today and so was the state of Florida.”
The governor also slashed more than $150 million in proposed education-related funding from the annual spending plan. The vetoes included proposed expenditures such as a pay raise for teachers working in juvenile-justice education programs and big-ticket construction projects at state colleges and universities.
Higher education projects targeted by DeSantis included a proposed $14.5 million renovation to Florida Gulf Coast University’s Reed Hall classroom building and the construction of a new $11 million Academic and Research Collaboration Center at the University of Florida, sought by Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville.
DeSantis’ action Thursday drew mixed reviews from Democrats.
Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, praised environmental funding included in the budget, as well as money for roughly $29.9 million for various projects and organizations in her central Florida district.
“These projects will have large positive impacts directly in Central Florida, and provide many needed services, create job opportunities, and continue to make our community a safe place to call home,” Stewart said in a release.
But House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, said DeSantis’ budget decisions would harm Floridians.
“This budget was written and passed unanimously by the Florida Legislature, and while no budget is ever perfect, this one did a lot of good for the people of Florida,” Driskell said in a release. “Unfortunately, DeSantis cut half a billion dollars from projects to keep Floridians healthy, protect us from storms, and improve our schools and roads.”
INKING THE DEAL
Florida Gulf Coast University’s search for a new president appears to be coming to a close after more than a year. The school’s Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved a three-year contract for FGCU President-elect Aysegul Timur with a $500,000 base salary.
Timur, who has served as vice president and vice provost for strategy and program innovation at the university, is in line to be the first woman to lead FGCU.
A News Service of Florida analysis of employment agreements for other university presidents hired since 2021 shows that Timur would be on the lower end of the pay scale compared to her recently named peers. Her contract still needs final approval from the state university system’s Board of Governors.
University of Florida President Ben Sasse, for example, was given a five-year contract with a $1 million annual base salary when he was installed as the school’s leader in November.
Florida State University President Richard McCullough in 2021 inked a five-year contract that included a $700,000 base salary.
Even a current interim president — Richard Corcoran, a former state education commissioner and state House speaker who was tapped in February to lead New College of Florida — gets a $699,000 base salary. The presidents of Florida International University and the University of North Florida, both tapped for the roles last year, receive base salaries of $650,000 and $500,000 respectively.
FGCU conducted a previous effort to find a successor to retiring President Mike Martin, but in November elected to reopen the search after the trustees were left with only one finalist.
A BREAK ON BILLS
Florida Power & Light customers will get a break starting in July.
State regulators Tuesday approved a plan that will trim FPL customers’ bills because of lower-than-expected costs of natural gas used to fuel power plants.
The plan involves $256 million in reductions that will start to be applied to FPL customers’ bills in July, after regulators also approved $379 million in reductions that took effect in May. Earlier in the year, FPL bills increased because of a combination of factors, including fuel costs and hurricane-related expenses.
“We are committed to keeping bills as low as possible for our customers,” Armando Pimentel, president and CEO of FPL, said in a prepared statement after Tuesday’s commission approval. “With fuel prices moderating, we are pleased to pass along additional savings to our customers.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: Gov. Ron DeSantis trimmed $510.9 million from a record-high state spending plan signed Thursday, with nearly one-fifth of the cuts coming from a single program designed to keep swaths of rural property from commercial and residential development.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Thirty-nine years and this process is finally over.” — Debbi Johnson, the sister of Karen Slattery, a 14-year-old babysitter who was murdered by Duane Owen in 1984. Owen was executed by the state Thursday for the murders of Slattery and Georgianna Worden.