TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Legislature has agreed on a $101.5 billion dollar state budget.
The figure reached on Tuesday was unfathomable a year ago as the economy collapsed during the coronavirus pandemic.
The budget proposal includes $6.7 billion in federal COVID-19 relief money that Republican legislative leaders previously said they wouldn’t rely on. Gov. Ron DeSantis originally proposed a $96.6 billion budget.
The Senate’s first proposal was about $95 billion and the House was seeking about $97 billion.
But revenue estimates have exceeded expectations, largely because the state has eliminated restrictions on businesses during the pandemic and tourism has rebounded.
