TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took to social media on Thursday to go after state lawmakers after they overrode some of his vetoes from last year’s budget.
According to DeSantis, state House Republicans voted to undo “millions of dollars in cost savings” that he had implemented when he signed the budget last year, as well as voting to undo over $60 million in cost savings over the past two months.
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“This represents misplaced priorities,” he wrote.
On Wednesday, House lawmakers voted to override four of DeSantis’ line-item vetoes from the 2024 budget, which amounted to $5 million and included funding for local water projects and a payroll system for state prisons.
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In response, DeSantis accused the lawmakers of not taking state residents’ interests into account.
“They have not addressed pressing issues that Floridians care about,” DeSantis said in a video statement. “We need relief from the condo crisis. We need to enact permanent protections for medical freedom. We need a universal E-Verify to strengthen our existing laws against illegal immigration. And we need a Florida-first tax package that will reduce the No. 1 tax that is hurting Floridians, which is property tax.”
DeSantis finished by discussing his appreciation for “productive discussions” about property tax reform in the state Senate. There have been a number of proposals filed in the Senate aimed at cutting property taxes statewide.
“That’s what we need to be doing,” he declared. “Not trying to put more money into this budget at the end of the fiscal year.”
Meanwhile, Florida first lady Casey DeSantis also took to social media to mirror her husband’s sentiments.
Florida homeowners are struggling with increased tax assessments based on values that are often unrealized. Reducing this burden on homeowners is the best way to provide relief to Florida taxpayers. Homeowners are the ones getting hit the hardest—they need to be at the top of the… https://t.co/eUoafnO9m6
— Casey DeSantis (@CaseyDeSantis) March 27, 2025
The governor has been vocal about his stance on property taxes in recent months, calling on lawmakers to draft legislation that would improve the state’s homestead exemptions or reduce property taxes more generally.
However, property taxes are a local issue, not a state one, so many of these proposals would require 60% voter approval in the 2026 general election to amend the state Constitution.
In a similar move on Wednesday, Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez unveiled a proposed plan to reduce the state sales tax rate, lowering it from 6% down to 5.25%.
Perez announced that he would ask fellow lawmakers next week to produce a committee bill to lower that rate, which would amount to nearly $5 billion per year for Florida residents.
“Members, if we are successful, we will become the only state in the history of the United States of America to permanently reduce its sales tax,” he proclaimed.
But in contrast to DeSantis’ claims, Perez also declared that the House budget plan this year would be even lower than the budget proposed by DeSantis.
“It would also be lower than the budget passed by the Legislature last term,” he said. “For the first time since the Great Recession, we will roll out a budget that actually spends less money than we did in the prior fiscal year.”
Speaking to reporters, Perez voiced support for cutting property taxes. But he raised questions about how the governor’s proposal could impact local services like fire departments and police forces.
“If the governor were to give us a proposal, we can have that conversation,” Perez said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
