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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
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More money, more problems? Florida's budget battle belies chronic issues
Florida is flush with cash, but its public workforce is running on empty. The Florida National Guard has been helping staff state prisons for two and a half years. There's a teacher shortage and a nursing shortage. There are 1,800 troopers patrolling a state with 7 million vehicles and more than 140 million tourists per year. All this in a state in strong fiscal health with ample reserves and a lean budget compared to other large states. Federal stimulus funds from the COVID-19 era, combined with inflation that boosted its sales tax-reliant revenues, padded its coffers. That helped lawmakers set aside massive reserves, about $17 billion in the current year. For Republicans who have held the reins of the state for nearly three decades, it's a point of pride to have the lowest number of workers per capita and to have half of New York's budget with more people. Such fiscal restraint – Florida's constitution requires lawmakers to pass a balanced budget each year – helps the state avoid the deficits and woes of Democratic-run states like Illinois and California. Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, revel in the contrasts to those states and boast of the state's fiscal picture. 'We've been running major, major budget surpluses, certainly over the last four years,' DeSantis said at a March 10 event in Winter Haven. 'We're spending, this year, less money than we spent last year … we have the lowest footprint of government workers per capita in the entire United States of America.' But Republican legislative leaders, after deadlocking on budget negotiations that threw the session into overtime, are still trying to reach a deal on a final spending plan. The dispute, though, is over how much to permanently cut taxes to restrain spending growth, not over how to pay for pressing needs that have long languished as the state continues to grow. House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, pushed for a sales tax cut to keep spending contained. Florida's budget has grown from $82.6 billion in 2019 to $118.6 billion for the current year. But Sen. Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, resisted the move, saying it would hamper lawmakers' ability to meet the needs of a growing state. When they first attempted a compromise that included a 0.25% cut to the 6% sales tax, DeSantis nixed it by pledging to veto the plan. He feared cutting the sales tax would crowd out his push for massive property tax reductions. Now, Perez and Albritton have a framework to resolve the budget differences, including a deal for $2.25 billion in permanent tax reductions, although the details of those cuts still need to be negotiated. For Democrats, stuck in superminority status in the Legislature, the fracas over the budget doesn't address chronic issues facing the state. 'There's actually investments, real investments that need to be made to ensure our government is functioning properly and I just don't think that this is the time to discuss cuts when we haven't adequately funded our schools, our prison system, our unemployment system,' said House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell of Tampa. 'It feels sometimes like the governor and legislative leadership don't really care how people are living; they just want to get what they want so that they can say that they got it. But how does that really help improve the lives of Floridians who are struggling to make ends meet?' To be sure, Republicans in recent years have put some money toward addressing the issues, putting more money towards pay for prison guards, troopers, teachers and to educate and train nurses. But the freeze on worker pay that lasted for years during and after the Great Recession left the state well behind the pay for competing industries in the private sector or other public entities. That led to massive turnover and shortages in vital areas. Inflation, too, has hampered efforts to provide competitive pay in several vital workforce positions. In September 2022, DeSantis issued an executive order to place National Guard members in prisons facing critical shortages of guards, known as correctional officers. The Department of Corrections (DOC) has faced chronic issues of turnover and trouble recruiting and retaining officers. A few years ago, the starting salary for a Florida prison guard was less than $33,000, and leaders at the DOC said they were competing with WalMart for workers. Lawmakers have tried to address the issue by giving pay raises to guards, boosting the starting pay by $15,000 in recent years. The raises have helped alleviate the issue. The Tampa Bay Times reported the number of vacant positions at state prisons has dropped from 5,000 to 1,000. But recruitment and retention problems have persisted, hampered by inflation, and staffing shortages could return if the Guard leaves. DeSantis issued four extensions of his order in the face of the problem, but the latest order is set to expire later in June. In budget talks, the Senate has offered to set aside $30 million to pay for a DOC deficit related to staffing, while the House wants $53 million for overtime pay. The Florida Highway Patrol, facing shortages of troopers, has relied heavily on overtime. During a March 11 meeting of a House budget committee, Dave Kerner – who heads the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which includes the FHP – told lawmakers his difficulty in retaining troopers. 'We spend an inordinate amount of money on overtime because of the low staffing we have at the Florida Highway Patrol,' Kerner said. 'Because of the lack of pay the lack of career development plan it is much more efficient for a trooper to come and work at the Florida Highway Patrol, get trained and then three years later leave to a better paying department and so we have to supplement that vacancy rate with overtime,' he added. He was responding to Rep. Randy Maggard, R-Dade City, who blanched at the $10 million price tag for overtime for the nearly 1,800 troopers. Kerner said there were 288 vacancies, including 138 vacancies of sworn patrol officers as of March 1 at FHP. Legislators have put more money into raises and bonuses for troopers in recent years, and DeSantis has called for pay raises of 20% and 25% for entry level and veteran law enforcement officers, respectively, including state troopers. But the House has resisted the raises for FHP, as well as nearly $10 million to replace and upgrade part of FHP's fleet of vehicles. A January report from the Florida Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, showed 3,197 teacher vacancies in public schools. The number was down from about 4,000 the year before, showing improvement but union officials still were alarmed at the 16% rise in teachers in charge of classes without a certification in that subject area. Prodded by DeSantis, lawmakers have put more money into teach salaries since he took office in 2019, raising annual pay by $1.25 billion per year. In ongoing budget talks, the House has offered to increase that by $91 million. The Senate prefers a $100 million increase. Those increases, though, haven't kept up with other states, which have also boosted average teacher salaries, leaving Florida near the bottom for pay among state. Inflation has also eaten into the nominal gains. Lawmakers also have tried to address projected shortages of nurses. A 2021 analysis by the Florida Hospital Association estimated a shortage of 59,100 nurses by 2035, as Florida continued to grow – and age. But an association report from September showed progress – vacancies and turnover were down significantly compared to the prior year. And the Legislature had passed the Live Healthy Act, which put $716 million to boosting health care access and expanding the health care workforce. In the latest budget talks, however, the House has sought to cut the $30 million boost to the Florida Reimbursement Assistance for Medical Education (FRAME) program in the Live Healthy Act. It offsets loans and expenses for those seeking degrees and licenses in the medical, nursing, dental and mental health fields. Gray Rohrer is a reporter with the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at grohrer@ Follow him on X: @GrayRohrer. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: In DeSantis' Florida, state budget booms as public workforce runs dry
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
DeSantis wants Florida National Guard members to be immigration judges
Governor Ron DeSantis wants approval from the Department of Homeland Security to allow Florida National Guard members to serve as immigration judges. He's looking at pulling judge advocates from the Florida National Guard to help expedite deportation. This all came up at a news conference in Miramar on Thursday, where officials discussed Operation Tidal Wave. 1,120 undocumented immigrants were arrested within 6 days. Many of them who did not have final deportation orders must appear before an immigration judge. 'If this is approved, we will go off to the races, and we will be able to do really from soup to nuts, from apprehension to detention,' DeSantis said. This is as state officials call Florida ICE's blueprint for handling mass deportations across the country. These judge advocates primarily practice in administrative or military law-- not immigration. Immigration attorney Nayef Mubarak says he would be concerned if one of these appointed national guard members were to be a judge in front of ones of his clients. 'My concern here would be, as they're properly training to understand the law, immigration is one of the largest bodies of law. It's more than removal,' Mubarak said. 'It takes a lot to understand who qualifies for relief and who doesn't.' There's also concern about whether the move would expedite cases too quickly. Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet who was undocumented in the U.S. for 15 years says it would. 'It would essentially destroy due process. Our court system exists, so people have a day at court, so they can actually fight their case,' Sousa-Lazaballet said. DeSantis says there's no issues with deputizing these Florida National Guard members. 'These are not Article III judges. They are executive branch employees, basically. We can absolutely deputize judge advocates from our National Guard units. To serve as immigration judges. We can do other to do that. So we'll help on that piece as well,' DeSantis said. He had this to say when asked about due process. 'Now, we're in a situation where the federal government is doing, enforcing the law, and the courts are saying, well, no, you really can't do that. People need to have some O.J. Simpson-type trial before they can be deported. It's nuts. And it's a heads-they-win, tails-we-lose for the country, to where people come in unimpeded, and it's virtually impossible for them to go,' DeSantis said. Now, this has yet to be approved by the Department of Homeland Security. Immigration advocates and lawyers we spoke to say they believe this would be challenged in court. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis takes state plane out west, pushing constitutional change and, critics say, seeking spotlight
ORLANDO, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis was in Idaho and Montana on Monday, his first major public swing through other states in more than a year as he attempts to maintain his national profile in advance of a potential second run for the presidency in 2028. Just like his trip to Indiana and South Carolina in February 2024, he flew out of Tallahassee on the state plane in the middle of an ongoing legislative session. Both times, his official reason for travel was to lobby other governors to join him in trying to amend the U.S. Constitution through a constitutional convention — which has never happened since the Constitution was ratified in 1787. Monday's events were about a proposed balanced budget amendment, which DeSantis said was needed because of the increasing national debt. Though he and other GOP governors have praised President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the controversial DOGE group, they say Congress needs a new rule to keep federal spending in check. 'At what point is this just going to break our country?' DeSantis said in Idaho. The 2024 trip, in which DeSantis pushed for congressional term limits, was made just weeks after he dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination and endorsed Trump. It was part of a whirlwind series of events in the wake of his failed bid that kept DeSantis in the news, including sending 1,000 more Florida National Guard troops to the U.S. border with Mexico. Then and now, critics were quick to say the governor was wasting taxpayer money. 'Floridians are being crushed by Ron DeSantis' affordability crisis while the lame duck Governor charges his constituents to fly around the country on the state's taxpayer-funded private jet to prop up his failed ambitions for higher office,' said Anders Croy, director of DeSantis Watch, a project of Florida Watch and the progressive group Progress Florida, in a statement on Monday. 'All the Governor has to offer is a rambling road show of lectures to the same Americans who rejected his unique brand of awkward weirdness during his disastrous run for president,' Croy said. The governor's office did not respond to a request for comment Monday. In part because of his lackluster previous run, DeSantis stands far behind Vice President J. D. Vance in early polls for the 2028 race, and behind even Donald Trump Jr. in some. Moreover, he would run again without the power of incumbency behind him, since he must leave Florida's top political post because of term limits in two years. Still, those who know and watch DeSantis have little doubt that he longs to try again. Since DeSantis ended his 2024 presidential campaign, his biggest moments on the national scene stemmed from the possibility he might be tapped as Trump's Secretary of Defense nominee if Pete Hegseth dropped out. Speculation that his wife Casey will run for governor in 2026 has also prompted national news. DeSantis' travel records are now shielded from public scrutiny due to a law he signed in 2023, but the state plane has been tracked online by the 'DesantisJet' account on social media, created by University of Central Florida student Jack Sweeney. The account indicated the state plane took off from Tallahassee shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday and landed in Boise, Idaho, about five hours later, using an estimated $5,803 worth of fuel on the outward trip. The plane took off just after 1 p.m. Monday for a 41-minute flight to Montana, where he was scheduled to meet with Gianforte. DeSantis had just returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., on the state plane over the weekend, where he met with Musk and attended the National Review Institutes 2025 Ideas Summit. He also flew to Washington in February for the National Governors Association meeting. The governor flew the state plane to South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut in February, according to DeSantisJet, the latter two trips for appearances at Federalist Society events. His focus in Idaho Monday was to push Idaho and Montana to join 27 other states in backing an amendment to require a balanced federal budget. Thirty-four would be required to trigger a convention of states. 'If Idaho and Montana join the fight, that gets us to 29,' DeSantis said alongside Idaho Gov. Brad Little. 'I think if you got to 33 states, I think Congress would see the writing on the wall and I think they would rush to write an amendment that they would then pass and then send to the states for ratification.' The budget recently passed by congressional Republicans, he said, forecast the debt to reach $56 trillion by 2035. 'I am convinced that you are not going to have Congress all of a sudden change its behavior for the long term,' he said. DeSantis also praised Idaho for having 'a lot of commonality with Florida' when it came to policies, including instituting the death penalty for child rapists. Idaho's anti-abortion laws are some of the strictest in the country, beyond even Florida's 6-week ban, including making it illegal to assist in a pregnant minor getting an out-of-state abortion. _____
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
DeSantis takes state plane out west, pushing constitutional change and, critics say, seeking spotlight
Gov. Ron DeSantis was in Idaho and Montana on Monday, his first major public swing through other states in more than a year as he attempts to maintain his national profile in advance of a potential second run for the presidency in 2028. Just like his trip to Indiana and South Carolina in February 2024, he flew out of Tallahassee on the state plane in the middle of an ongoing legislative session. Both times, his official reason for travel was to lobby other governors to join him in trying to amend the U.S. Constitution through a constitutional convention — which has never happened since the Constitution was ratified in 1787. Monday's events were about a proposed balanced budget amendment, which DeSantis said was needed because of the increasing national debt. Though he and other GOP governors have praised President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the controversial DOGE group, they say Congress needs a new rule to keep federal spending in check. 'At what point is this just going to break our country?' DeSantis said in Idaho. The 2024 trip, in which DeSantis pushed for congressional term limits, was made just weeks after he dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination and endorsed Trump. It was part of a whirlwind series of events in the wake of his failed bid that kept DeSantis in the news, including sending 1,000 more Florida National Guard troops to the U.S. border with Mexico. Then and now, critics were quick to say the governor was wasting taxpayer money. 'Floridians are being crushed by Ron DeSantis' affordability crisis while the lame duck Governor charges his constituents to fly around the country on the state's taxpayer-funded private jet to prop up his failed ambitions for higher office,' said Anders Croy, director of DeSantis Watch, a project of Florida Watch and the progressive group Progress Florida, in a statement on Monday. 'All the Governor has to offer is a rambling road show of lectures to the same Americans who rejected his unique brand of awkward weirdness during his disastrous run for president,' Croy said. The governor's office did not respond to a request for comment Monday. In part because of his lackluster previous run, DeSantis stands far behind Vice President J. D. Vance in early polls for the 2028 race, and behind even Donald Trump Jr. in some. Moreover, he would run again without the power of incumbency behind him, since he must leave Florida's top political post because of term limits in two years. Still, those who know and watch DeSantis have little doubt that he longs to try again. Since DeSantis ended his 2024 presidential campaign, his biggest moments on the national scene stemmed from the possibility he might be tapped as Trump's Secretary of Defense nominee if Pete Hegseth dropped out. Speculation that his wife Casey will run for governor in 2026 has also prompted national news. DeSantis' travel records are now shielded from public scrutiny due to a law he signed in 2023, but the state plane has been tracked online by the 'DesantisJet' account on social media, created by University of Central Florida student Jack Sweeney. The account indicated the state plane took off from Tallahassee shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday and landed in Boise, Idaho, about five hours later, using an estimated $5,803 worth of fuel on the outward trip. The plane took off just after 1 p.m. Monday for a 41-minute flight to Montana, where he was scheduled to meet with Gianforte. DeSantis had just returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., on the state plane over the weekend, where he met with Musk and attended the National Review Institutes 2025 Ideas Summit. He also flew to Washington in February for the National Governors Association meeting. The governor flew the state plane to South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut in February, according to DeSantisJet, the latter two trips for appearances at Federalist Society events. His focus in Idaho Monday was to push Idaho and Montana to join 27 other states in backing an amendment to require a balanced federal budget. Thirty-four would be required to trigger a convention of states. 'If Idaho and Montana join the fight, that gets us to 29,' DeSantis said alongside Idaho Gov. Brad Little. 'I think if you got to 33 states, I think Congress would see the writing on the wall and I think they would rush to write an amendment that they would then pass and then send to the states for ratification.' The budget recently passed by congressional Republicans, he said, forecast the debt to reach $56 trillion by 2035. 'I am convinced that you are not going to have Congress all of a sudden change its behavior for the long term,' he said. DeSantis also praised Idaho for having 'a lot of commonality with Florida' when it came to policies, including instituting the death penalty for child rapists. Idaho's anti-abortion laws are some of the strictest in the country, beyond even Florida's 6-week ban, including making it illegal to assist in a pregnant minor getting an out-of-state abortion.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida lawmakers tee up final votes on illegal immigration crackdown
Florida lawmakers advanced three bills Wednesday to boost immigration enforcement ahead of final floor votes set for Thursday. The bills are a compromise between GOP legislative leaders and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who both say they're trying to help President Donald Trump's push to expedite deportations and prevent future illegal border crossings. But the discussions in the Legislature showed the issue is far from being resolved any time soon, as the debate over immigration shifts to the legal and logistical impacts of moving thousands of people out of the state. 'It's even almost reckless to say we've had a border. We've just had a place on map that differentiates one country from the other,' said Rep. Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, sponsor of one of the bills (HB 1C). 'Outside of that, it's been lawless, and now we must do something about it.' He was responding to criticism from Democrats that his bill punishes undocumented students by stripping in-state tuition rates, that immigrants seeking asylum legally will get caught up in new enforcement measures, and the costs for detaining and incarcerating illegal immigrants will be too high. 'Are we going to put a lot more money into our prisons?' asked Rep. Dianne Hart, D-Tampa. She noted the state has struggled to staff prisons in recent years, relying on Florida National Guard members to help guard state prisons. The legislation at issue this week increases penalties for undocumented immigrants who commit crimes, and makes entering the state without legal status a crime in itself, punishable with a minimum 9-month jail sentence. It also provides $250 million in grants to local law enforcement and $48.2 million to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to aid in enforcement efforts. Part of those grants will go towards bonuses for law enforcement officers. For Democrats, that wasn't enough. Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo of North Miami also argued there should be pay increases, not just bonuses, and noted the bill leaves out financial incentives for the Florida Department of Corrections, which would house and supervise immigrants arrested under the new rules. 'You're not serious about combatting illegal immigration if you don't address the largest economic driver, which is employment,' Pizzo said. The bill also sets up a State Board of Immigration Enforcement, consisting of DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet members: the attorney general, chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner. The new board will coordinate with federal immigration officials. Under the previous bill passed by the Legislature, the enforcement duties were moved from DeSantis to the agriculture commissioner, currently Republican Wilton Simpson. That was a sticking point with DeSantis, who called that bill (SB 2B) 'weak' and likened Simpson's control of immigration enforcement to a 'fox guarding the henhouse.' DeSantis has vowed to veto that bill, but has welcomed the Legislature's new measures, even though they leave out provisions he pushed for in his original call for an immigration special session last month. That includes restrictions on people in the country illegally being able to wire money to their home countries, and new powers allowing DeSantis to deport illegal immigrants out of the country. All of the bills passed along mostly party lines through the House and Senate budget committees. Sen. Ileana Garcia of Miami was the only Republican to vote against any of the measures. She voted against SB 4C because it mandates any illegal immigrant convicted of a capital crime, such as first-degree murder or rape of a child under 12, be automatically sentenced to death. 'I value all life deeply and believe that while those who commit heinous acts must face justice, no one has the right to take another life,' Garcia said. Two Democrats – Pizzo and Sen. Darryl Rouson of St. Petersburg – voted for SB 6C, which is a measure asking the federal government for guidance in signing up local law enforcement with a program to receive training in enforcing federal immigration laws. McClure noted his bill sets up a council of local law enforcement officials to provide suggestions on how much extra capacity is needed to house inmates and possibly provide more funding to aid enforcement. He stressed lawmakers will rely on their suggestions in continuing to crackdown on illegal immigration: 'I don't think this is the last immigration conversation we have this session or probably over the next few years,' McClure said. This story contains previously published material. Gray Rohrer is a reporter with the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau and can be reached at grohrer@ Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@ This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Debate over Florida immigration bills highlights deep divisions
