Florida lawmakers Monday overturned Gov. Ron DeSantis’ veto of about $57 million for the Legislature’s operations, marking a rare act of defiance against a governor who has wielded commanding influence.
The veto override was a first for the Republican-controlled Legislature since DeSantis, a fellow GOP member, was first elected governor in 2018. The Legislature last overturned a governor’s veto in 2010, according to legislative records.
The move came Monday morning as lawmakers also bucked the governor on his immigration agenda, opting to take up their own legislative package, not the bills he backed. There was only one dissenting vote against restoring the funding in the 120-member House and the 40-member Senate.
DeSantis vetoed the legislative funds last summer, cutting about 30% of the Legislature’s operating budget, House Speaker Daniel Perez said. That move occurred despite lawmakers increasing the budget for governor’s office by 70% over the past six years, he said.
“This veto was at best a misunderstanding of the importance of the appropriation or at worst an attempt to threaten the independence of our separate branch of government,” Perez said.
The vetoed funding was used for human resources and accounting, legal services, information technology and other programs, legislative leaders said.
Senate President Ben Albritton said the governor’s veto threatened the Legislature’s transparency programs, including lobbyist registration, a financial disclosure database and online legislation tracking, along with economic estimating and oversight of executive branch rulemaking.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the veto override.
Since the veto, the Legislature used cash reserves to avoid shutting down operations or laying off staff, Perez said.
Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a close DeSantis ally, cast the only dissenting vote.
“As a staunch fiscal conservative I don’t believe we should be overriding vetoes to make government bigger,” the Spring Hill Republican said. “To spend more when we should be spending less to make government more accountable” sends the wrong message, he said.
Florida Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo urged the Legislature also to consider reinstating $32 million in arts funding DeSantis vetoed.
Lawmakers did not act on that request Monday, but Perez said he wants lawmakers to review other budget vetoes for possible reinstatement.
Orlando Sentinel staff writer Jeffrey Schweers contributed to this report.