$18B proposed in Senate budget for transportation, economic development

Nick DiCeglie makes big bank for his Senate bid.

Lawmakers have included $18B in the Senate proposed budget for transportation, tourism and economic development.

The committee budget is part of a proposed Senate budget totaling more than $117 billion. That plan is $1 billion more than Gov. Ron DeSantis’ outline for his “Focus on Fiscal Responsibility” budget released last month.

The largest portion of the committee budget would go to the Florida Department of Transportation to support its 5,914 positions, including nearly $13 billion — most nonrecurring — for its transportation work program.

The Department would also receive under the proposed committee budget nearly $32 million for fixed capital outlay projects; more than $13 million for increased operation costs departmentwide; $9.6 million for Florida Planning, Accounting, and Ledger Management (PALM) readiness; and $9.2 million for equipment replacement.

FloridaCommerce and its needs and programs would receive $1.7 billion, including $150 million each for the Hometown Heroes Housing Program and Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Grant Funding (CDBG-DR).

Additionally, the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) Program would receive nearly $183 million, while $71.2 million would fund the State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) program, and $22.5 million would go toward the Economic Development Toolkit.

Under the proposed committee budget, the Division of Emergency Management, under the Executive Office of the Governor, would receive $1 billion. That includes nearly $847 million for funding to communities and $53 million for state operations during federally declared disasters. Another $3.7 million would go toward the Statewide Emergency Alert and Notification System and $3.2 million for the statewide WebEOC initiative.

The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is poised to land more than $628 million in the upcoming budget, including $4.3 million for additional equipment for the Florida Highway Patrol; $3.5 million for security and fraud prevention; $3.3 million to replace pursuit vehicles; $3.1 million to increase operational services to address driver license services backlogs; and $2.4 million for additional license plate purchases.

Florida’s Department of State is slated to receive $169.4 million, including $39.3 million for cultural and museum program support grants; $13.5 million for historical preservation grants; $5.5 million for library construction grants; and $3 million for the Division of Corporations’ Call Center Services.

The Department of Military Affairs, meanwhile, would get $103 million, including $2 million to increase the Florida National Guard tuition assistance program and $745,000 for equipment replacement.

The proposed committee budget is part of an overall proposed state budget from the Senate that increases state reserves — $500 million for the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund — and $600 million to pay down the state debt.

It also includes a 4% pay increase for all state employees, as well as additional pay raises for state law enforcement officers, firefighters, Assistant State Attorneys and Public Defenders and Department of Transportation workers. The proposed Senate budget holds the State Employees Health Insurance premiums constant.

The budget is nowhere near done. It must first be reconciled with the House budget before a cooling off period and then go to the Governor’s Office for his review.