Governor’s proposed budget calls for court system investments
Along with a call for austerity, Gov. Ron DeSantis released a $115.6 billion “Focus on Fiscal Responsibility” budget proposal for FY 2025-26 that calls for significant investments in the state courts, including 44 new judges, more court interpreters, increased due process resources, and seed money for a new courthouse for the Sixth District Court of Appeal.
“Our budget is called focus on fiscal responsibility because that is what we are doing,” DeSantis said at a Capitol press conference. “We’re showing that you can be fiscally responsible, respect taxpayers, and yet still deliver on the main promises that you made and the main public needs of our people.”
With economists predicting that Florida is heading for a $10 billion deficit in the next three years, the governor’s proposal would be a $3 billion reduction from a current budget packed with one-time spending items from a final round of federal COVID-19 stimulus dollars.
General revenue spending would fall about $900 million, and true to its name, the governor’s proposal would set aside $830 million to pay down debt, trim 741 vacant state positions, and reduce overall state university system spending by $200 million.
At the same time, it includes a $609 million increase for K-12 schools, would devote $510 million to combatting illegal immigration, and $361 million to protecting Florida’s coastlines, along with a back-to-school sales tax holiday and other tax cuts.
As of Tuesday, Senate President Ben Albritton, a Wauchula farmer, and House Speaker Daniel Perez, a Miami attorney, had yet to respond publicly to the governor’s spending priorities. House and Senate budget committees are meeting Wednesday in an interim-committee week ahead of the March 4 session.
When it comes to court system spending priorities, the governor’s budget summary trumpets his call for $8.2 million in seed money to begin planning a Sixth District Court of Appeal courthouse.
The item is encouraging, considering that DeSantis vetoed the Legislature’s initial $50 million appropriation for a court facility after the Sixth DCA opened January 1, 2023.
The governor’s summary also highlights his call for $8 million for additional court reporters and due process resources, always a Supreme Court priority.
On December 12, the Supreme Court issued an order that certified the need for 50 additional judgeships, a figure that includes 23 circuit court judges, 25 county court judges, and two judges for the Sixth DCA.
In their order, justices identified the following breakdowns:
- One additional circuit court judge each for the First, Fourth, Ninth, 12th, 14th, 18th, and 19th circuits;
- Two additional circuit court judges each for the Seventh, 10th, and 15th circuits;
- Three additional circuit court judges for the Fifth Circuit; and
- Seven additional circuit court judges in the 20th Circuit.
The certification identified the following breakdowns for county court judges:
- One additional county court judge each for Walton, Clay, Nassau, Hernando, Lake, Marion, Sumter, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Manatee, Hillsborough, Bay, and Lee counties;
- Two additional county court judges each for Duval and Palm Beach counties; and
- Seven additional county court judges for Miami-Dade County.
“To arrive at our certifications, the Court accounted for the relative needs of each circuit and county court as reflected in the weighted caseload methodology, but we have not certified the need for the full complement of judges indicated by that methodology,” the court said. “Instead, based on several considerations, the Court has chosen to adopt an approach that is more incremental but still reasonable and fair.”
Justices said they recognize that funding new judgeships is a significant investment, and “we are mindful of the Legislature’s challenge in addressing myriad state budget priorities with limited resources.”
The certification follows the Legislature’s decision last year to fund nine new judgeships.
The governor’s budget proposal calls for $20.6 million, and 112 FTEs, or full-time equivalents, for new judges and support staff, nearly meeting the court system’s request for $24 million and 125 FTEs.
However, the governor’s proposal does not specify where the new judges would serve.
In proviso language, the governor calls for $1.3 million in recurring general revenue funds and $26,800 in non-recurring general revenue funds for two additional district court of appeal judgeships, support staff, and operational expenses, “contingent upon the passage of legislation specifying the judgeship placements.”
Another proviso calls for $10.1 million in recurring general revenue and $201,000 in nonrecurring general revenue for 20 additional circuit court judgeships, support staff, and operational expenses, “contingent upon the passage of legislation specifying the judgeship placements.”
A third proviso calls for $9.2 million in recurring general revenue funds and $147,000 in nonrecurring general revenue for 22 additional county court judgeships, support staff and operational expenses, “contingent upon the passage of legislation specifying the judgeship placements.”
The governor’s proposal would also continue funding the Bar fees and continuing legal education expenses of government lawyers and includes $85,781 to enhance the Supreme Court’s broadcast services, and another $160,000 for “protective service vehicles.”
Absent from the governor’s spending proposal, however, is a $26.9 million request for the first year of a new automated case management system for the trial courts. The governor’s proposal also does not include a $17.4 million court system request to enhance judicial salaries.
It’s far too early to know much of the governor’s spending proposal will be reflected in competing House and Senate spending plans.
Lawmakers convene the next regular 60-day session on March 4, and typically wait until the final week to reach a final budget agreement.
After that, the Constitution gives the governor line-item veto authority.
