ORLANDO, Fla. — With the flourish of a pen, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the 2025 Florida budget into law Monday, one day before the state was set to run out of funding and enter a government shutdown.
The normally dull affair of passing a budget grew dicey as DeSantis clashed with the Florida legislature, specifically House Speaker Daniel Perez. From the early days of the session, Perez had made it clear DeSantis was no longer going to be welcomed with a rubber stamp in his chamber.
That resulted in a 105-day marathon session to get the budget passed, far exceeding the typical 60.
However, there was one anxiety-inducing aspect of the process that didn’t change: DeSantis using his pen to line-item veto projects pitched by lawmakers across the state.
The governor habitually cuts deep into the budget. This year, he eliminated approximately $600 million of the $115 billion-dollar fiscal package, which he said was used to max out the state’s reserve funds that can be used after major storms or in the wake of an economic downturn.
Central Florida fared better than other regions of the state. Some of the deepest cuts hit the Miami area.
Still, DeSantis cut at least $32 million for our region. The biggest known cut was $7.5 million requested by lawmakers in Orange County to upgrade the Pluris water system in the Wedgefield area.
The smallest cut was $12,500 for a sand bag machine in Holly Hill.
Here’s a list of projects impacted in Central Florida. Please note some projects with less region-specific names may have been missed:
Projects $5 million or more:
- Orange County Wedgefield Water & Wastewater System Improvements (SF 3161) (HF 3582)
- Brevard County School District West Shore Jr./Sr. High School Expansion (SF 1165)
Projects $1 million or more:
- Brevard County Sykes Creek Phase 2 Environmental Dredging (SF 1332) (HF 1306)
- DeBary Phase 1 Hurricane repair and Comprehensive Stormwater Infrastructure improvement (SF 1324) (HF 2353)
- Brevard - Aviation Assembly and Fabrication Hangar (HF 1310)
- Oviedo Public Safety Training Center (SF 2317) (HF 1158)
Projects $500,000 or more:
- Brevard County Sykes Creek Zones M, N, & T Septic-to-Sewer Connection Assistance (SF 1331) (HF 1307)
- Orange City Fire Station Hurricane Rated Facility (SF 2034) (HF 2758)
- Belle Isle Municipal Facility Land Planning and Building Design (SF 2910) (HF1503)
- Windermere - Upgrade Roundabout 6th Avenue and Main Street (SF 1916) (HF 3084)
- City of Daytona Beach Police Department Training Facility (SF 1204) (HF 2034)
- Explicit Instruction for Emergent Bilingual Students--Osceola County (SF 3133) (HF 1689)
- Aging Matters in Brevard Meal Program (SF 1151) (HF 1603)
- 26Health’s Street Medicine Initiative (SF 3415) (HF 1695)
- Marion County YMCA Aquatic Safety & Infrastructure Enhancement (SF 1722) (HF 1917)
- East Coast Zoological Society of Florida Banana River Living Shoreline Restoration Buffering the Aquarium Campus (HF 1440)
- Kissimmee - North Kissimmee Stormwater Improvements (SF 3125) (HF 1285)
- Ormond Beach Stormwater Analysis (SF 2507) (HF 1796)
- Central Florida Council, Scouting America Safety and Maintaining Current Structures at Camp La-No-Che (SF 2528) (HF 2728)
- Palm Bay Fiber Optic Expansion (SF 3294) (HF 3097)
- St. Cloud Hopkins Park Community Center (SF 3129) (HF 1684)
- Children’s Center for Education and Collaboration - The Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse, Inc. (SF 1049) (HF 1293)
Projects $200,000 or more:
- The Transition House Homeless Veterans Program - Osceola (SF 3130) (HF 1687)
- Deltona Theresa Basin - Mid Basin Pumping (HF 2431)
- Children’s Center for Education and Collaboration-The Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse, Inc. (SF 1049) (HF 1293)
- Indialantic Riverside Park Pier & Kayak Launch (SF 2266) (HF 1427)
- West Melbourne Flood Risk Reduction - Canal C69 and C70 Improvements (SF 3487)
- Central Florida Arts Workforce Initiative (SF 3152) (HF 1233)
- Children’s Safety Village Safe Swim Program (SF 2338) (HF 2628)
- Lake Helen Critical Stormwater Improvements (SF 1336) (HF 2436)
- Grants And Aids To Local Governments And Nonstate Entities - Fixed Capital Outlay - Indialantic Riverside Park Pier And Kayak Launch
- Samaritan Resource Center - Pathways to Prosperity Program (SF 2954) (HF 1502)
Projects $100,000 or more:
- Keeping Up Out of School Suspension Program (SF 1928) (HF 1701)
- Police, IT and Emergency Operations Hurricane Rated Facility - Orange City Municipal Government (SF 1573) (HF 3188)
- Lake Helen City Hall Upgrades (SF 1205) (HF 2434)
- Melbourne Village Stormwater Study Project (SF 1545) (HF 1426)
- Mount Dora Electric Utility Power Grid Resiliency Project (SF 1893) (HF 1416)
- Volusia Free Clinic dba: Volusia Volunteers In Medicine (SF 1140) (HF 1410)
Projects under $100,000:
- Palm Bay Police Department Communications Center Expansion, Phase 1 (SF 3293) (HF 3571)
- Mustard Seed of Central Florida - Furnishing Basic Stability for Families (SF 1846) (HF 1501)
- Daytona Beach Shores - Mechanized Sandbag Filler (SF 1046) (HF 1395)
- Holly Hill Sand Bag Machine (SF 3414) (HF 1509)
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