Drew Wilson
It wasn’t exactly Panthers-Oilers double OT — but after two extensions, the 2025 Legislative Session is over.
The House and Senate finalized their spending plan for the 2025-26 fiscal year on Friday evening, starting the clock on the 72-hour cooling-off period before a final vote.
True to form, they didn’t gavel in the moment the clock struck zero, instead letting the cooling-off period run fully cold before doing the only thing they are constitutionally required to do: pass a budget.
From the moment they took command of their respective chambers, House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton signaled that the era of 10-digit year-over-year budget increases was over.
Five years ago, Florida’s budget was a quaint $93 billion, but federal pandemic funding, inflation, inbound migration, and more pushed the state government budget across the $116 billion mark last year.
This year’s total: $115 billion. That’s a $1.5 billion reduction from the current budget and $500 million leaner than the plan Gov. Ron DeSantis pitched ahead of Session.
Much of the feuding this Session — mainly between the House and the Governor — was not focused on how the state could slash spending, but rather how it could gut revenues.
In late March, Albritton unveiled a $117.36 billion budget proposal — a small trim to the $117.5 billion lawmakers approved last year, but higher than the effective tally after the veto. A few days later, Perez announced the House’s $112.95 billion budget.
The $4.4 billion gap was a hurdle. Another source of friction, however, was the inclusion of a permanent 0.75% sales tax cut. Albritton didn’t dismiss it out of hand, issuing a measured response that his chamber would consider it in good faith; the Governor was less diplomatic.
Many twists and turns followed, but the thread remained consistent: despite Republicans holding a supermajority in both chambers, deep ideological rifts remain over budgeting philosophy and the proper role of government in spending and saving.
In the end, the chambers agreed on a $1.3 billion tax cut package. The biggest-ticket broad-based cut puts the annual back-to-school sales tax holiday into statute — the holiday has been a fixture since the late ’90s, save for a brief Great Recession pause, with the only real question each year being whether it will cover big-ticket items such as computers and tablets.
The bulk of the cut, however, comes via a repeal of Florida’s business rent tax, which is expected to nix $904.8 million in state revenues.
Earlier Monday, Albritton asserted the business rents repeal would trickle down to consumers. Whether the savings make it past the front office remains to be seen, but what’s certain is the business lobby harpooned another long-standing white whale.
“This is a major win for Florida’s competitiveness and local businesses, who will reinvest those dollars into their employees, growth, and communities,” said Florida Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mark Wilson.
The tax cut plan drew sharp criticism from Democrats, who argued it overwhelmingly favors corporations while neglecting the needs of everyday families.
“This budget doesn’t do nearly enough to address Florida’s affordability crisis … very little of that tax relief is going to the average Floridian — instead, we’re giving handouts to huge corporations,” said Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman.
House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell questioned the GOP’s priorities, adding, “If we can help them, why can’t we also do things to help consumers? I think it is a false choice to suggest that’s the only way we can help.”
Among the other key budget items is an across-the-board raise for public employees, who will see their annual take-home pay grow by the greater of 2% or $1,000 effective July 1.
The budget also includes $580 million in one-time debt repayment for the coming year, including up to $230 million to wipe out environmental bonds tied to the Save Our Everglades and Florida Forever programs. In the same vein, lawmakers OK’d separate legislation (SB 1906) to establish a recurring Debt Reduction Program within the State Board of Administration to make $250 million annual transfers toward debt service, provided state revenues remain strong.
With so many big-ticket policy questions ending on a cliffhanger, property tax abolition chief among them, don’t be surprised if this year’s budget drama gets a sequel in next year’s Session — same stage, slightly different script.
But for now, the focus shifts to DeSantis — currently in France — and whether he’ll attempt a “Red Wedding”-style veto spree with less than two weeks before the budget must be signed.
