In his final budget proposal, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday rolled out a $117.36 billion plan for the 2026-2027 fiscal year that includes increased money for teachers and law-enforcement officers.
DeSantis, who can’t run for another term next year, said the proposal “builds off the success that we’ve had” during his time as governor.
Among other things, it would boost spending for cancer research spearheaded by First Lady Casey DeSantis and funding for the Florida State Guard, while directing New College of Florida to assume the University of South Florida Sarasota/Manatee campus.
It also would maintain funding for the Visit Florida tourism-marketing agency at $80 million and increase from $25 million to $50 million the amount going to the state’s Job Growth Grant Fund, which the governor can use for regional infrastructure projects or workforce training.
“This budget’s entitled ‘Floridians First’ because that’s the focus of it. It’s putting our people first and making sure we’re good stewards, but also making sure that folks, that the needs that we have are being addressed,” DeSantis said during an event at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando.
The proposal is an initial step as lawmakers prepare to negotiate a budget during the 2026 legislative session that will start Jan. 13. The 2026-2027 budget will take effect July 1.
After months of Republican infighting this spring, the House and Senate hammered out a $115.1 billion budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, with DeSantis then issuing $567 million in vetoes.
DeSantis’ proposal would provide an additional $200 million to increase salaries for teachers and other educators. But the Florida Education Association teachers union said the plan would shortchange students and educators.
“While the governor continues to tout ‘record’ investments in educator pay, the lived experiences of educators tell a different story,” the union said in a news release. “Eight years of broken promises have left them in a financial crisis, struggling to afford rent, homeowners’ insurance, groceries, health care, child care and other basic day-to-day expenses.”
DeSantis called for per-student funding in the kindergarten through 12th-grade system to increase by $279 to $9,406. Also, for example, money for school-hardening grants to improve safety would increase from $20 million to $42 million.
In higher education, the budget proposal would not increase college and university tuition. Meanwhile, a proposed bill linked to the budget calls for “existing contracts, leases, obligations, responsibilities, and liabilities of the board of trustees of the University of South Florida that are principally associated with the real property encompassing the University of South Florida Sarasota/Manatee campus or any facilities constructed upon those parcels, must be transferred to the board of trustees of New College of Florida by July 1, 2026.”
Overall, the budget plan includes a 2 percent cost-of-living raise for all state employees and 5 percent increases for law enforcement officers, state park rangers, information-technology workers, judges and state attorneys.
The proposal also includes money to hire 500 additional correctional officers, though it would eliminate 354 vacant positions across all agencies.
With his wife a breast-cancer survivor, DeSantis proposed spending $278 million for cancer research, including $40 million for the Cancer Connect Collaborative Research Incubator and $10 million for the Casey DeSantis Cancer Innovation, Care and Research Program.
DeSantis also proposed $115 million for the Florida Forever land-conservation program and $200 million for the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program, which is used to purchase conservation easements that prevent development. The proposal also includes such things as $30 million for oyster restoration efforts, $19 million for the citrus industry and $12 million to protect manatees.
The proposal also includes maintaining a sales-tax “holiday” offered for the first time this year that allows people to buy guns, ammunition, camping and fishing equipment without paying taxes.
DeSantis has made a priority of trying to ask voters in November 2026 to pass a constitutional amendment to slash property taxes. While he hasn’t released a detailed property-tax plan, his budget proposal seeks $300 million to help financially strapped rural counties if they lose property-tax revenue.
–Jim Turner, News Service of Florida
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