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.