Florida News

Florida Policy Institute: State budget will do little to help most Floridians

WLRN Public Media | By WLRN STAFF

Published June 23, 2025 at 7:49 PM CDT

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis gives his State of the State address during a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives in Tallahassee, Fla., Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)

The progressive Florida Policy Institute said the newly passed $115 billion state budget approved by the Republican-majority Florida Legislature will do little to help most Floridians.

"Our state is already projecting significant ongoing budget challenges and everyday Floridians are facing mounting challenges, just to make ends meet," FPI CEO Sadaf Knight said in a statement.

"This moment calls for making investments in public services, raising additional revenue and in expanding economic security — by choosing not to do so, the Legislature is putting their head in the sand."

FPI researchers outlined a summary of the budget by specific issue areas.

The budget, which will take effect with the July 1 start of the 2025-2026 fiscal year, remains subject to Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoes. But it would be about $3.5 billion smaller than the budget for the current fiscal year and is less than a $115.6 plan that DeSantis proposed in early February.

Knight said legislators ignored the potential loss of billions of dollars in federal funding for health care and food assistance under President Donald Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill."

The more than 1,000-page bill includes steep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP) and about $723 billion in reduced spending in Medicaid, which provides health insurance for families with limited income, over the next 10 years. That would cost Florida about $16 billion, according to FPI estimates.

Florida may have to pay at least $1.6 billion in federal dollars for proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, under the House budget proposal, according to a report by the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. More than 3.2 million Floridians, including more than 807,000 children, are food insecure.

FPI is among 77 organizations statewide who sent a letter to Florida's two Republican senators — Sen. Rick Scott and Sen. Ashley Moody — pressing them to vote against the "reconciliation bill" being considered in the Senate.