Ryan Nicol
House and Senate lawmakers appear ready to cut dozens of vacant positions in the Attorney General’s Office, but the chambers still disagree on just how severe those cuts should be.
House lawmakers want to be more aggressive, with the Justice Budget Subcommittee proposing to eliminate 122 positions in the Department of Legal Affairs that have been vacant for more than 90 days. That would save more than $9.26 million, according to the House budget.
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice, in its initial proposal, envisions eliminating 91 vacant positions, resulting in a savings of just under $6.95 million.
It’s the latest salvo in what’s been a frosty relationship in the few months since James Uthmeier took over as Florida’s Attorney General.
The former Chief of Staff for Gov. Ron DeSantis has been caught in the crossfire of the House’s probe into Hope Florida. Lawmakers, including Republicans, are raising questions about a $67 million settlement between Centene and Hope Florida for Medicaid overbilling.
The Hope Florida Foundation, the charitable arm of the First Lady’s Hope Florida initiative, received $10 million of that money, which was then diverted to two committees. Those committees then donated millions to a political committee chaired by Uthmeier while he was Chief of Staff, which was designed to suppress support for last year’s ballot initiative to legalize recreational pot.
Uthmeier has defended the money trail, but he has faced criticism from lawmakers investigating the matter.
Uthmeier’s Office is now facing potential staffing cuts, although the budget is considering other cuts for positions left unfilled for more than 90 days.
What’s notable is that the House is far more aggressive in pursuing those cuts, with the Senate often failing to include any such cuts for other budget silos. Regarding Uthmeier’s Office, though, the Senate is on board, though the upper chamber would still spare more jobs than in the House proposal.
Still, the line item has not been agreed upon yet, meaning it could change or even be removed entirely as budget conferences continue this week.
One comment
Larry Gillis, Director-at-Large, Libertarian Party of Florida
June 5, 2025 at 9:03 am
WHAT IF YOU HELD A PARTY, AND NO ONE CAME?
These vacant positions were created in the first place because the laws on the books seemed to necessitate them. We should really look at the underlying laws, to see if the laws themselves were necessary in the first place.
After all, the fact that these positions remain vacant tells us volumes about the necessity of the underlying laws. Lemme put it this way: what if you held a party, and no one came?