Budget

State economists on Wednesday increased general-revenue projections by a total of about $2 billion for the current fiscal year and next year, giving a boost to lawmakers as they start preparing to draw up a budget during the 2025 legislative session.A panel of economists known as the Revenue Estimating Conference said about half of the projected increase is tied to anticipated earnings on historically high state investments receiving favorable interest rates.

Among the budget spending vetoed by DeSantis was $11.6 million for renovations to Florida Gulf Coast University’s Reed Hall classroom building.Also among the vetoes was $80 million for the Florida College System to participate in the state group insurance program, which provides health insurance to state workers.Among big-ticket items approved by the governor, the budget includes $14.5 billion for the state transportation work program and $232 million for cancer-research funding, including $127.5 million for the Casey DeSantis Cancer Research Program.Also included in the state budget is $15.547 million for Fort Myers Beach for a new Town Hall site and revenue replacement.

“The Everglades has not seen this type of funding at these levels, ever,” said Eric Eikenberg, chief executive of the Everglades Foundation. Eikenberg said that billion-dollar-plus annual funding will now be needed to get the job done

Florida’s 60-day legislative session is expected to end on time Friday after the release Tuesday of a $117.46 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year.House Speaker Paul Renner announced at 11:49 a.m. Tuesday that the spending plan was “on the desk,” after House and Senate budget leaders finished negotiations Monday.

Governor Ron DeSantis, just a week from suspending his 2024 Presidential campaign, announced an effort Monday to bring constitutional reforms to the U.S. Congress.DeSantis made the announcement in Naples along with Florida House Speaker Paul Renner.

DeSantis has earmarked $30 million to pay for efforts to reduce blue-green algae in Caloosahatchee River and increase water quality

Disaster-recovery projects in Florida and other states could be affected by the looming federal-government shutdown, the White House said Thursday.

The trails at the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel will remain open even if Congress does not pass a bill to fund the government by midnight Saturday.Tarpon Bay Explorers, the refuge’s concessionaire, will re-open Monday, after being closed in September. The tram service on Thursdays will be open.The visitor center and restrooms will be closed. About 10 employees will be furloughed, Westland said. The park manager and law enforcement can still work.

Gov. Ron DeSantis trimmed $510.9 million from a record-high state spending plan signed Thursday, with nearly one-fifth of the cuts coming from a single program designed to keep swaths of rural property from commercial and residential development.