If government budget plans are political documents that telegraph the chief executive’s priorities, the budget proposed for the state of Florida by Gov. Ron DeSantis Tuesday morning is both a conservative’s siren song and a shot across the bow of anyone and everyone standing between him and his designs on the White House.
Stipulated: No doubt the Republican-dominated Legislature, in its role as author of state spending, will give a thorough airing to its own priorities. Whether GOP leadership will resist the lead of their promotion-seeking chief is sure to be one of the key subplots when the Legislature convenes for its 2024 session January 9 (seven days before the Iowa caucuses).
Just now, however, the sixth annual DeSantis budget outline — Focus on Florida’s Future Budget — is a relief map of his claim to the Ronald Reagan lane of the Republican presidential primary, with three eye-popping peaks soaring above the rest. If DeSantis gets his way, come the 2024-25 fiscal year (starting October 1), Florida will have committed to:
- Cutting year-over-year spending by $2 billion.
- Paring 1,000 positions from the state payroll.
- Paying down state debt by $455 million.
DeSantis proposes achieving these classically conservative goals while also providing $1.1 billion in tax relief, pumping to record levels spending for K-12 education (including a substantial boost to teachers’ salaries), sending relief to homeowners stressed by property insurance premiums, preserving the coastline, relieving traffic congestion, and recruiting law enforcement personnel.
There’s also a pledge of $1 million to support legal action against the NCAA after Florida State University’s 13-0 record and Atlantic Coast Conference championship failed to impress the College Football Playoff committee.
The politics of all this could not be clearer, or more welcomed by DeSantis supporters. The recommended spending cut follows five years of increases that boosted state outlays by 31 percent, a fact noted by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie during the first GOP presidential debate.
True enough. But context saps the sting from the snark.
Over the same period, state revenues surged nearly 29 percent, essentially keeping pace with spending. Additionally, federal spending on COVID (allocated by Washington, administered by states) was reflected in state outlays. Moreover, Florida’s population spiked 6.7 percent in those five years. And, most important, by pursuing a tax-friendly growth economy, the state’s GDP rose a whopping 38.5 percent.
DeSantis’ plan to trim 1,000 state payroll positions echoes his intention to pare the federal workforce — “start slitting throats,” an unfortunate term, that — on Day One. If he gets that far, DeSantis might run into trouble with Congress, but in the interim, he will have established for those truly worried about the deep state his swamp-draining bona fides.
Some yammer. Others hammer.
The Tallahassee Democrat took note. We’ve heard these themes before. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)
DeSantis also mocked President Biden and the federal government by praising his administration’s success at reducing Florida’s debt.
“We have, since I’ve become governor, paid off 25% of our state’s total debt. … That’s something you don’t see many other states doing and you certainly don’t see Washington doing that, I can tell you that,” DeSantis said during an appearance at a Marco Island charter school.
Announced on the eve of the fourth GOP presidential debate — where four candidates, none of them named Donald Trump — will spar, the DeSantis budget plan clearly seeks a broader audience than even the population of the third largest state.
“This is a budget that I think is respecting the taxpayers of this state. We are living within our means; we’re even paring back expenses,” DeSantis said. “We’re reducing the size of government, we’re cutting taxes, we’re eliminating more of our state debt.
“Yet, we also have record investment for education, record support for transportation and infrastructure, record support for environmental restoration and water quality. That is how you govern well,” DeSantis added.
DeSantis also had a message for the perpetually absentee Trump, whom he called a “keyboard warrior” sequestered in a “dungeon.”
#BREAKING: Ron DeSantis scathes Donald Trump as a "keyboard warrior"
"Get out of your dungeon, get off the keyboard. Stand on the debate stage, and let's go […] I don't think he will do it, because I don't think he can stand there for 2 hours against me and come out on top." pic.twitter.com/9YKBQLSO0j
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) December 5, 2023
Whether he is, indeed, floundering (as most news accounts report) in his bid for the GOP presidential nomination, or merely is feeling feisty and resurgent after last week’s shimmering throw down vs. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, DeSantis made the most of a politically charged moment Tuesday morning.
The question, incredibly, remains whether GOP primary voters can be coaxed to shift their attention.
