TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) -- A multi-billion-dollar budget surplus touted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may not be enough to save a thousand state workers' livelihoods from the chopping block.
On Tuesday, DeSantis announced plans to eliminate over 1,000 state jobs as part of the proposed 2024-2025 "Focus on Florida's Future" budget.
“We are also going to be reducing the size of government by eliminating over 1,000 positions throughout the state government,” DeSantis said at a news conference Tuesday. “That’s going to help us realign resources to focus on efficiency.”
The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) and the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) will see the most job cuts. 407 jobs will be axed from the FDC, according to the budget website, and 358 positions will be eliminated from the FDOH. The Florida Department of Transportation will also lose over 100 jobs.
Florida Democrats slammed DeSantis' proposed budget as a "refusal to address property insurance, the housing crisis, and cost of living." His proposal included a one-year exemption on taxes and other fees for homeowners insurance policies, which the DeSantis administration estimates will save "taxpayers $409 million" and will decrease "the average insurance premium by up to 5%."
“The irony of Ron’s ‘Focus on Florida’ budget is his complete inability to actually focus on Florida,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in a statement responding to the lengthy news conference. “He spent more time ranting about the State of California today than proposing positive solutions for Florida — at times, his speech felt like the deleted scenes from last week’s debate."
Fried, who is Jewish, also commented on DeSantis' recent, repeated condemnation of antisemitism in response to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. She accused him of refusing to condemn the Florida neo-Nazis who appear to support him and trying to score political points.
“Ron spent much of his speech talking about the threat of antisemitism and touting initiatives to fund security efforts at Jewish Day Schools — efforts that I greatly appreciate. However — and I’m starting to sound like a broken record here — his support rings hollow when he still won’t condemn the neo-Nazis that support his campaign," Fried said in a statement. "His refusal to denounce a right-wing ideology that threatens Jewish people makes any other action feel like a political stunt designed to help his presidential campaign."
Gov. DeSantis' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.