(The Center Square) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continued his war of words with the Florida House of Representatives, accusing the lower chamber of planning to cut law enforcement spending in its budget proposal Wednesday.
He said at a news conference in Fort Myers in southwest Florida that the House’s budget proposal, House Bill 5001, would force Florida state troopers to keep cars with more than 100,000 miles on them, defund salary hikes for law enforcement officers and fails to fund replacements for in-car cameras and ballistic armor.
The second-term GOP governor also said the House’s budget would cut 84 trooper and 73 state law enforcement dispatcher positions.
He said Republicans have the largest legislative supermajorities in state Republican Party history because of the leadership they’ve provided, but that the House is trying to overturn six years of conservative policy.
“A lot of people ran in the House and Senate on the same record, but what’s going on in Tallahassee right now with the Florida House of Representatives is really treacherous,” DeSantis said. “What they’re doing, because they all ran on this agenda. They never ran against law enforcement. I can tell you that because they would have gotten shown the door by the voters if they had done that. They never ran on trying to overturn our reforms in higher education.
“They never ran on joining with Democrats to try to manufacture smears against the administration the governor, even the First Lady. They’ve tried to do that on they never ran on any of that stuff, but that’s what they’re doing. They are not doing what they told you they would do. They are effectively stabbing the voters in the back with this really, really terrible agenda. This is the swamp in action. This is the swamp trying to strike back after six years of success.”
In his budget proposal, DeSantis wants 20% salary increases for entry-level state law enforcement officers, such as state troopers and investigators, and 25% for veteran state law enforcement officers and state firefighters. These increases for 4,700 state law enforcement officers and 730 state firefighters would cost an additional $118.3 million annually.
House leaders bragged about their budget proposal being $6 billion less than last year’s appropriation and $2 billion less than what DeSantis seeks.
DeSantis is facing scrutiny over a $10 million contribution by health care giant Centene, which is being investigated by the state House of Representatives, which has a Republican supermajority.
The governor has been locked in a battle with House leadership since January, when they balked along with their Senate counterparts about DeSantis’ call for a special session to handle immigration enforcement.
After several weeks of negotiations, both sides arrived at a compromise.
The House also is in disagreement with DeSantis over tax reform. DeSantis wants a one-time property tax rebate and a ballot initiative for permanent relief, while the House has passed a bill that would cut the state’s sales tax from 6% to 5.25% that the governor says would help non-residents.
