state budget

Florida’s arts community breathes a sigh of relief after Gov. Ron DeSantis approved partial funding for cultural grants following last year’s deep budget cuts. One group in Palm Beach County expressed appreciation for the funding but acknowledged many organizations are still struggling.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a new nearly $115 billion state budget into law. Monday's signing ceremony capped a long and combative legislative season marked by GOP infighting. The budget totals about $4 billion less than the state's current adjusted budget.

House and Senate budget leaders Monday rushed to finalize a new state spending plan, while Gov. Ron DeSantis continued calling for giving property-tax rebates. The goal is to get the budget finished this week, along with accompanying bills that will include a tax package.

More than 600 organizations statewide are scrambling to fill a financial void after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $32 million in grants for arts and culture. South Florida arts leaders, who say the industry pumps nearly $6 billion into the economy, called the decision ‘shocking.’

Dubbed the “Focus on Florida’s Future Budget,” the proposal asks lawmakers for an additional $5 million to continue a controversial program that has transported undocumented immigrants to Massachusetts and California and to set aside $1 million for potential legal expenses related to Florida State University being left out of the four-team college football playoffs.

Southern Boulevard in Palm Beach County will have over a thousand new lights across 18 miles. It's an effort to stop deadly car crashes on dark stretches of the roadway.

A $112.1 billion budget that Florida lawmakers passed last week covers more than the state’s basics for education, health care, and law enforcement.

A number of high-profile bills await Gov. DeSantis’s signature — bills that govern teaching about sexual orientation in schools, how companies conduct training around racial issues at work, and that give parents more control over school books.

The number of bills DeSantis has vetoed have increased since he first took office in 2019, when he cut $131 million from a budget totaling $90.98 billion.

The state legislature passed a record-breaking budget Monday, ending a session dominated by fierce debates on issues such as education, abortion and immigration.

The session was scheduled to end on Friday, but state law requires a 72-hour “cooling off” period before lawmakers can vote on the budget.

They range from proposed funding for public schools to money that would go toward cancer research.