Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the record $101.5 billion Florida State budget on June 2. The $9.3 billion increase over last year’s $92.2 billion budget is attributed to pandemic-related impacts. Of the anticipated $10.2 billion Federal American Rescue Plan funds designated for Florida, $6.7 billion was utilized to support this budget.

 

Because state revenues were stronger than predicted, legislators opted to put the remainder of the stimulus funds into savings for a total of $6 billion in budget reserves.

 

For the environment, the budget includes $522 million for Everglades Restoration projects and $400 million for the Florida Forever Land Acquisition Program ($300 million of which is non-recurring funding from federal stimulus dollars). 

 

Funding for the newly created Resiliency Grant Trust Fund Program will receive $500 million to address flooding and sea level rise, and the Water Protection and Sustainability Program will receive $500 million to distribute grants to local communities for septic-to-sewer and wastewater infrastructure projects. 

 

Another $100 million in funding was approved to address the environmental disaster at Piney Point.

 

Some of the local water quality projects that received funding include:

 

 

Please see the following link for the full: County by County Allocation List. One local project, Bonita Springs Home Elevation and Buyout Program, was vetoed by the governor. Click here for the complete: State 2021 Veto List. 

 

This budget and all other signed bills become effective on July 1, 2021, the beginning of the 2021-2022 state fiscal year.

 

There are still several issue-related bills that have yet to be presented to the Governor including the growth management and M-CORES related bills. If you haven’t contacted the governor on these important bills but would like to, click on the links below: