The Epoch Times On March 14, the Florida Senate unanimously passed a record-breaking $112.1 billion state budget proposal (pdf) that includes a pay raise for state workers, rewards for school districts that did not impose mask mandates, and a one-month gas tax suspension just before the November midterm elections.
Due to lengthy and often heated budget negotiations, lawmakers had to extend the 60-day legislative session, following the unsettled business of the March 9 session. In addition, state law requires a 72-hour cooling-off period before they can vote on the spending plan once it has been settled. State law also demands a balanced budget, meaning “the amount available from taxation and other sources, including balances brought forward from prior fiscal years, must equal the total appropriations for expenditures and reserves.”
DeSantis unveiled his Freedom First Budget (pdf) for fiscal year 2022–2023 in December of last year, which totaled $99.7 billion, with total reserves exceeding $15 billion. The priorities outlined by DeSantis included record-level funding for education (pdf), public safety (pdf), and the environment (pdf)…
