Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the state budget Monday, marking the last budget he will sign before leaving office in January. Once he signs, his most powerful tool for controlling the legislature disappears. The line-item veto power, which DeSantis has used to strike funding for projects backed by lawmakers who opposed him, will no longer influence legislative behavior after the budget is signed.
The $114.5 billion budget came after the Legislative Session extended past its 60-day calendar for the second consecutive year. House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton disagreed fundamentally on spending levels. Perez said the House believed the state should spend less money, while the Senate believed it should spend more. The House opened at $113.6 billion and the Senate at $115 billion, with the $1.4 billion gap consuming the spring session. Both chambers' tax packages collapsed, resulting in a tax-cut deal worth roughly $300 million. The Senate passed the final budget unanimously while the House approved it 99-6. Lawmakers were then called back for a Special Session focused on the governor's property tax plan. Throughout negotiations, DeSantis maintained the threat of at least $800 million in cuts.
In May, addressing the Federalist Society, DeSantis openly acknowledged using the veto pen against members who cross him because it helps advance a legislative agenda. Every local project became leverage to enforce compliance. The property tax fight, injected into budget season, operated as another tool to pressure votes. DeSantis spent the weekend on social media highlighting his record, posting that Florida has the fewest state workers per capita in the country, fewer than when he took office in 2019, and noting this marks the fourth straight year of reducing the budget.
Despite losing budget veto power Monday, DeSantis will continue wielding significant executive authority until his last day in office. He will continue filling judicial positions and making hundreds of appointments to state and local boards, water management districts, university trusteeships, and licensing panels. He intends to stack these positions with loyalists who will carry his agenda forward. DeSantis will also lead the campaign for Amendment 3, the homestead exemption measure his legislature sent to voters, which requires 60 percent approval in November. While the budget veto power ends Monday, his influence through appointments and judicial selections continues through his final day in office.