TALHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — After one of the most intense legislative sessions packed with budget fights, state legislators have already suggested tightening up their budgets ahead.
The Florida home and the Senate budget chair met at the Capitol to warn that 2026 will be another year to target wasteful spending.
House Budget Chair Lawerence McClure (R-Dover) hopes lawmakers will dig deeper into the state budget this year.
2025 Legislative Session
The 2025 session was filled with Capitol clashes over the state’s budget, pushing lawmakers into two overtime rather than one.
Wanting to comb back spending, the House of Representatives proposed a $112 billion budget, and the Senate pitched a $11.7 billion budget.
“What we’re doing is that God forbids us, we’re in a recession position. We’re back in the 2000s. We have a budget stabilization fund that can betray, backstop and protect Floridians from being in an uncomfortable position.”
House and Senate leaders highlighted the Budget Stabilization Fund and the state’s rainy day reserves, hoping that these savings will help future legislative sessions.
“This budget is a move in the right direction for Floridians, so we’re making decisions that will be very useful in the future when the next time the wind blows, or the next time you know,” Senate President Ben Alburitt (R-Wauchula) said.
Ultimately, Gov. Ron Desantis signed a $117.4 billion budget.
Heading to the 2026 Legislative Conference
So far, Flash Forward, Budget Chair met with the Capitol economists to review the state’s financial outlook. Forecasts for the upcoming fiscal year show that lawmakers can have a surplus of over $3 billion, but that surplus is also expected to show a shortfall.
“We’re not yet in a place where we have to go there and cut our services at the heart of that,” McClure said.
McClure says the state may not be in the “cutting” stage yet, but stronger financial oversight will be needed in 2026.
“If we don’t want the next generation of lawmakers who will lead the House and Senate to have this conversation, we don’t have to spend as much money as we have,” McClure said.
The economists say the strategic actions taken by Congress in their final session have significantly improved the state’s financial position, but the question is, can they keep it that way?
