TALLAHASSEE – Florida heads into the hurricane season with a budget now in place, even if for a second consecutive year it took longer than expected, with a third special session on the horizon.
Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a $114.5 billion spending plan Friday, wrapping up a special session to complete the budget 77 days after they failed to do so during the regular session.

BETTER LATE

The Senate voted unanimously in favor of the budget and the House voted 99-6 for the plan, but the vast support for the measure belied the tense process to produce it.
House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, insisted on cutting the current budget of more than $115 billion, while Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, preferred to keep funding essentially level.
The budget includes $30 billion for K-12 schools, with $201 million for teacher pay increases. That raise, though, will only go to teachers with 10 years of experience, with the increase capped at $3,000 per year.
Republicans said they wanted to use the money to prevent veteran teachers from leaving the field.
Democrats, though, said the funding isn’t enough, as many districts faced potential cuts this year due to declining enrollment and teachers struggle to keep up with inflation.
There were funds included to mitigate the effect of enrollment declines for school districts, but Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, said that would still leave Orange County with a $13 million shortfall for its schools.
Smith voted for the budget, but also took issue with the zeroing out of preeminence funding for universities. The University of Central Florida recently qualified for the funding, which is designed to push schools to boost research. But now the school won’t be able to receive the money. In the current budget, $40 million was set aside for preeminence funding, which went to the University of Florida, Florida State University, Florida International University and the University of South Florida.
Other Democrats called for raises for all state workers, instead of the 4 percent raises are targeted only corrections officers, state law enforcement officials and firefighters included in the budget.
Still, only six House Democrats voted against the budget, although the main theme from Democrats was that it doesn’t do enough to help Floridians facing cost of living constraints.
“I don’t know what it’s going to take for us to wake up one day and realize that we are really not doing the things for the people in the state of Florida that we should be doing, as opposed to doing what companies need,” said Rep. Dianne Hart-Lowman, D-Tampa, who voted against the budget.

NEXT SESSION SET

Before lawmakers made their way back to Tallahassee for the vote on the budget, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Wednesday he was going to require them to be at the Capitol on Monday to begin a special session on his effort to cut homesteaded property taxes.
The plan as introduced by the Senate (SJR 2F) increases the current exemptions on homestead property to $150,000 starting Jan. 1, 2027, and to $250,000 on Jan. 1, 2028.
If lawmakers place it on the ballot in November and 60 percent of voters approve, the current 10 percent cap on assessments for non-homestead properties will be lowered to 5 percent.
“I want to get something done. I want to make sure people can go and vote for something, and then see something that’s going to be very, very meaningful in their lives,” DeSantis said while at Hilton Garden Inn Tampa Airport Westshore.
Florida Association of Counties deputy executive director Cragin Mosteller said the counties are up for the pending special session conversation, but it needs to be “grounded in real budget math and the long-term needs of Florida’s communities.”
“Floridians want affordability, but eliminating property taxes does not eliminate the cost of infrastructure, emergency response, and other essential local services,” Mosteller replied in an email. “Those costs do not disappear – they shift somewhere else, often onto businesses, renters, and working families.”
The association wasn’t alone in questioning the potential impacts.
Water management proponents noted that if the amendment was already in place, the $698 million in revenue the state’s five water management districts are projected to raise in the next fiscal year to protect groundwater and springs, the Indian River Lagoon, and other impaired waterways would be cut by $251 million.
Meanwhile, Florida Mosquito Control Association President Peter Jiang wrote that, “In a subtropical state where mosquito control has long been integral to public health, economic growth, and everyday life, stable funding for these districts remains critically important to the continued well-being of Florida’s communities.”

JUSTICE LEWIS

Former Florida Chief Justice R. Fred Lewis, one of the state’s last liberal-leaning justices, died Tuesday, the court announced this week.
He was 78.
Lewis, along with justices Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince, frequently bedeviled Republican leaders and business interests for “judicial activism,” until they all left the court together in 2019 because of a mandatory retirement age limit.
“My lessons of life came from being born into generations of coal miners in the mountains of West Virginia and the sense of community and human interaction necessary for survival at that time,” Lewis wrote when he applied to be appointed the state’s top court in 1998.
The West Virginia native was recruited to play basketball at Florida Southern College in Lakeland. He attended the University of Miami School of Law, graduating third in the class of 1972. He would set up a private practice, specializing in civil trial and appellate litigation, after a stint in the U.S. Army.
Lewis was appointed to the state’s top court in 1998 by Gov. Lawton Chiles and was chief justice from 2006 to 2008.
As Chief Justice, Lewis directed an audit of all courts in the state to identify and remove barriers to justice for people with disabilities.
He considered his stop accomplishment as a justice the creation of a justice teaching initiative, where volunteer judges and lawyers went to Florida middle and high schools to bolster civic and law-related education.
Lewis will lie in state in the Florida Supreme Court rotunda from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 11. A memorial service will be held in the courtroom of the Florida Supreme Court at 11 a.m. on June 12.

STORY OF THE WEEK: The Florida Legislature belatedly approved a $114.5 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2026-2027 in a special session.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “A state budget is one of the most important responsibilities entrusted to this Legislature, and it should be developed through an open and deliberative process, not last-minute negotiations behind closed doors.” — Jupiter Democratic Rep. Emily Gregory

TALLAHASSEE– Gov. Ron DeSantis still isn’t fully on board with cutting the state gas tax to counter mounting fuel prices.
But as legislative budget leaders head into the Memorial Day weekend having spent the past week of the special session quietly behind closed doors, DeSantis said Friday he’d sign a tax package that includes a reduction in the state’s 22-cent-a-gallon gas tax.
“If they put it in the tax package, I’ll happily sign it,” DeSantis said during a bill signing event in Jacksonville.

BUDGET BATTLES

DeSantis’ comment on a potential portion of the tax package was more than budget negotiators had said most of this week regarding the ongoing talks.
Unresolved issues were tossed to Senate Appropriations Chairman Ed Hooper, R-Trinity, and House Budget Chairman Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, on May 15. They held their first public conference meeting Friday at 4:20 p.m.
“Chair Hooper and I will continue to work on the budget throughout the long weekend,” Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, advised the Senate Friday afternoon. “At this time, our goal is to finalize all decisions and lay the budget on the desk by the close of business on Tuesday evening at the latest. Senators should be prepared to return to Tallahassee on Thursday, May 28 to vote on the budget and related bills on Friday, May 29.”
Because of a required 72-hour cooling-off period, the budget must be “printed” by Tuesday to get a final vote from the House and Senate on Friday.
The gas tax is an issue raised by Democrats for weeks and comes as President Donald Trump has also suggested Congress suspend the 18-cent-per-gallon federal gas tax.
Yet DeSantis isn’t convinced that the change will help as the average gallon of gas in Florida stood at $4.47 on Friday, 18 cents higher than a week ago and $1.57 more than on Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel began military operations against Iran.
“When we did that last time, I think the Legislature was less than impressed on the results,” DeSantis said.
The state lifted the gas tax in 2022 for the month of October, but because of market fluctuations and supply chain pricing, the average savings was about 13 cents per gallon.

AROUND THE SWAMP

Stuart Bell, who stepped down last summer after a decade as president of the University of Alabama, was announced Monday as the lone finalist to be the University of Florida’s next president.
DeSantis was quick to voice support.
“Dr. Bell did much to elevate the University of Alabama when he was the president in Tuscaloosa and I have no doubt that he will help UF reach new heights during his tenure in Gainesville. He is a great selection and has my full support!” DeSantis posted on X on Monday.
But conservatives opposed to diversity, equity and inclusion programs were also quick to take aim at Bell over his past efforts to support DEI initiatives at the Tuscaloosa school.
John Sailer, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, was among those leading the crusade against Bell. His postings on X derided Bell’s “dismal record at Alabama” as not reassuring for those hoping for “continued and deeper reform at the University of Florida.”
Meanwhile, DeSantis’ predecessor, Rick Scott, now a U.S. Senator, also raised questions about the selection.
Scott wrote State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues about the search process that produced just a single finalist, as well as the school’s contract with Donald Landry, who served as interim president since September.
Landry’s contract provided an annual base salary of $2 million and included the potential for another $2 million in severance if he didn’t get the permanent job as president.
“Frankly, what is occurring at UF sounds like something we would see coming out of states like California or New York,” Scott wrote.
Scott also took aim at Attorney General James Uthmeier’s $100,000 contract to teach at UF’s Levin College of Law. The letter included a request for all contracts involving the hiring of elected officials or their family members.

GROUNDING
CELEBRATIONS

Floridians were advised this week they might have to celebrate the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary without fireworks if heavy, ground-soaking rains don’t soon arrive.
Members of the state Cabinet warned Tuesday they won’t hold back on taking legal action against those responsible for blazes that get out of control and affect residential areas as the peak of an already highly active year for wildfires has yet to arrive.
Attorney General James Uthmeier said his office will hold people accountable if they start “some big bonfire with these drought conditions, and the wind blows, and all of a sudden the neighborhood is on fire, you will be held accountable.”
Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson added that without significant rain to end drought conditions found in 90 percent of the state, alternatives to fireworks could be in order for the Fourth of July.
“You’re talking about … potentially hundreds of thousands of people going out and doing fireworks. You could put the entire state on fire in one evening,” Simpson said.

STORY OF THE WEEK: DeSantis signals he’d sign suspension of state gas tax in tax package.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Have fun. Have a good time. Enjoy some beers over the holidays this summer. But if you’re in one of these burn ban counties … please take this seriously.” – Attorney General James Uthmeier during a press conference on drought conditions and wildfires at the Withlacoochee Forestry Training Center in Brooksville.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Sheriff’s Report is not appearing this week because of the Memorial Day holiday. It will resume next week.

By JUDGE LAYNE SMITH

Years ago, I wrote three newspaper columns with “Independence Day” in-mind. I share them now in celebration of our nation’s 250th birthday.
This is part three of three:
The Revolutionary War began in 1775 and ended in 1783. It spanned over 8 years (101 months). During that time, many American soldiers received little to no pay for their military service. After the war ended, Congress couldn’t satisfy the nation’s war debts, including soldiers’ back pay. Chronically short of funds, the federal government caused runaway inflation by over-circulating worthless paper money. Farmers were hit hard, and many lost their farms to foreclosures.

In 1786-87, armed mobs looted stores in rural Massachusetts. In January 1787, Daniel Shays lead 1,500 rebels in an attack on the armory in Springfield, Massachusetts. These rebels intended to seize its weaponry and overthrow the state’s government. The federal government was unable to muster any military response. Instead, a privately funded state militia squashed Shays’ Rebellion.
In May 1787, the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia. There, our Founders proposed scrapping the Articles of Confederation and replacing it with a new federal government under a Constitution.
Having been ratified by Congress and the legislatures of all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation could only be dissolved by unanimous consent. Lacking unanimity, the Constitutional Convention baldly asserted that the Constitution would take effect if ratified by Congress and at least nine states. Even so, everyone feared that anything short of a ratification by all 13 states would result in anarchy.
The Federalists, led by George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, wanted to empower the federal government to raise taxes, satisfy the war debts, and regulate commerce. They supported ratifying the Constitution.
The Anti-Federalists, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, didn’t want to strengthen the federal government. They believed doing so would be at the expense of the people and the sovereign states. Anti-Federalists opposed ratifying the Constitution.
The Federalists believed that the proposed Constitution would provide a strong and flexible government that would adequately protect the people’s rights. They argued against adding amendments because the new federal government’s powers would already be limited to those specifically delegated to it by the people.
The Anti-Federalists couldn’t raise enough support to save the Articles of Confederation. Likewise, they couldn’t sway enough state legislatures to scuttle ratification of the Constitution by at least nine states. However, they could generate enough opposition to prevent its unanimous ratification by all 13 states. This clout turned out to be just enough leverage to negotiate a compromise.
Anti-Federalists agreed to ratify the Constitution if it included 10 amendments, which became known as the Bill of Rights. The purpose of these amendments was to protect the people’s individual rights against tyranny and to prevent the national government from usurping the states’ sovereignty.
Even with this compromise, ratification by every state was no slam-dunk. On May 29, 1790, by a vote of 34-32, Rhode Island was the 13th and final state to ratify the Constitution, as amended.
Anyone who listens to CNN or FOX news can still hear the echoes of Federalists’ and Anti-Federalists’ arguments playing out.

The Honorable J. Layne Smith is the Circuit Judge assigned to Wakulla County, Florida, a bestselling author, and a public speaker.

TALLAHASSEE – Special session season will soon be a reality in Florida.
Long awaited, the Senate on Friday published its bills for the non-congressional redistricting side of the session Gov. Ron DeSantis called, which begins on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the House and Senate went public a day earlier with plans to discuss the budget over three weeks in May.

The wait, however, continues for lawmakers to take up DeSantis’ request for a property tax proposal for the November ballot.

THE BENJAMINS

More than a month after ending the regular session without passing a budget, legislative leaders said Thursday they have a deal on spending levels for the different sections of the fiscal plan.
In separate memos to members, House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, stated the special session to hammer out the budget will run May 12-29. The formal proclamation of the session still awaits.
“I am pleased to announce that, for the second consecutive year, our budget will reduce overall government spending while responsibly directing taxpayer dollars toward essential priorities,” Perez wrote in his memo.
During the regular session the Senate passed a $115 billion budget and the House passed a $113.6 billion spending plan. Perez, though, insisted on a budget less than the current year’s level of $115.1 billion.

SPECIAL SESSION

The Senate reintroduced bills on Friday regarding vaccine mandates (SB 6D) and artificial intelligence regulations (SB 2D and SB 4D) that the House didn’t address during the regular session that ended March 13.
But the wait continued Friday afternoon on DeSantis to produce map changes.
“We are awaiting a communication from the Governor’s Office regarding congressional redistricting,” Albritton advised members in a memo.
Awaiting the special session, Democrats noted Florida’s constitution prohibits partisan gerrymandering. But some have taken a “bring it on” attitude.
Pointing to a series of special election wins over the past year, including a couple in Florida, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declared “Republicans are dummymandering their way into the minority before a single vote is cast.”
The House Majority PAC also announced it was putting $20 million into Florida for the 2026 contests, targeting six Republican districts in Miami, Tampa and Orlando.

Jeffries, D-NY, expanded the targets to Florida Republican U.S. Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart, Maria Elvira Salazar, Carlos Giménez, Kat Cammack, Anna Paulina Luna, Laurel Lee, Cory Mills and Brian Mast.
DeSantis replied that he would relish Jeffries bringing his brand of liberal politics to Florida.
“Please, be my guest. I will pay for you to come down to Florida and campaign. I’ll put you up in the Florida governor’s mansion,” DeSantis said during a bill signing event Wednesday in Jacksonville. “There’s nothing that could be better for Republicans in Florida than to see Hakeem Jeffries everywhere around this state.”

STORY OF THE WEEK: Florida legislators announced they are even closer to moving forward with talks on the 2026-27 fiscal year budget.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “The peak fire season is not here yet. That’s usually toward the end of May. We have not received lightning so far. And when that comes, and it’s coming, we’re going to be as busy as we probably have been in decades. But we’re well prepared.” – Florida Forest Service Director Rick Dolan on the current dry conditions across the state.