TALHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – Last-minute additions have expanded into the state budget, empowering the governor’s office to conduct Doge-like reviews of local governments across Florida. But critics have raised red flags over the state’s new authority to investigate local governments and their spending plans.
Florida cities and counties could soon face a $1,000 per day fine if they are not state-compliant to access data systems, personnel and buildings.
“Some of this implementation language helps us understand that these communities may need to change some of what we’re doing,” state Sen. Ed Hooper (R-Clearwater).
The measure entered into the budget implementation bill, inspecting the Governor’s Office of Policy and Budget Authority local financial records and flagging any signs of illegal DEI spending or waste, fraud or abuse.
Local governments have seven business days to comply, but Democrats are interested in how privacy rights and new policies emerge in the budget.
“We are currently looking at a state-level version of disasters we saw in the federal government,” state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando). “Does this mean that the governor will start sending a bundle of inexperienced 20-year-old brothers to local cities and counties to access data systems, access HR information, and start making cuts and recommendations?”
In support of the move, State Sen. Jason Pizzo (NPA-Sunny Isles Beach) argued that the oversight has been long behind. He said many Florida cities in his district are blowing money on what was allocated for something else.
“Most of my cities welcome things like this, so they can really demonstrate how efficient they are and how well they run. Some of my cities should be afraid,” Pizzo said.
Pizzo added that if the state budget faces public scrutiny, the local budget should too.
The bill has passed both rooms and is being prepared for the governor’s signature. If approved, it will take effect on July 1, 2025.
Now it’s a temporary measure and tied to a budget cycle that is due to expire on July 1, 2026, but it was easily expanded as Republicans control both homes in Congress.
