Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has rejected a proposal to raise the governor’s salary with a three percent increase in the 2025 budget, asserting that an increase is “appropriate for others given the persistent inflation” but not for the governor’s salary.
“I’ve spoken to legislative leaders and asked that they remove a proposed 3% increase for the Governor’s salary in next year’s budget,” DeSantis said in a statement posted to X.
“While this increase is appropriate for others given the persistent inflation in the US economy, it is best to leave the Governor’s salary as is,” he said, garnering praise from several commenters who commended him for setting the “right example”:
According to the governor’s Florida Commission on Ethics filing, DeSantis makes $141,400 in his capacity as governor of Florida. This also comes as the Florida House attempts to push a bill increasing the governor’s salary, doubling it by 2027.
Florida Phoenix reports:
The proposal also says that the salaries of the lieutenant governor, and the state Cabinet offices — attorney general, chief financial officer, and agricultural commissioner — would rise to at least 95 percent of the annual salary established for the governor. Currently, the lieutenant governor’s salary is $135,515 and the Cabinet officers make $139,988.
None of these increases would kick into effect until fiscal year 2027, meaning DeSantis will himself not benefit from the increase.
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GOP House Appropriations Chair Tom Leek said it was appropriate to raise the salary that the state pays its governors, because there are 1,900 state employees who make more than the governor does. “Florida is the lowest paid governor of many of the top 10 states,” he noted.
DeSantis’s rejection of an increase follows him spending the majority of 2023 on the presidential campaign trail, only to eventually drop out and endorse former President Donald Trump in January 2024.
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All the while, his state has continued to see a string of conservative victories — the latest being the University of Florida (UF) cutting all positions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), according to an administrative memo.
This followed the Florida Board of Education announcing a rule prohibiting state or federal funds from going toward DEI initiatives. In 2023, DeSantis signed a measure, S.B. 266, which deemed DEI “discriminatory.”
“Compliance with BOG Regulation 9.016 on Prohibited Expenditures,” the subject of the memo reads, explaining that UF has closed its Office of the Chief Diversity Officer and has “eliminated DEI positions and administrative appointments, and halted DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors.”
“Under the direction of UF Human Resources, university employees whose position were eliminated will receive UF’s standard twelve weeks of pay,” it reads, encouraging these staffers to apply for different positions posted within the university and adding that UF’s Human Resources will work to fast-track the process for them.
Further, the memo states that UF will “reallocate the approximately $5 million in funds — previously reported to Tallahassee for DEI expenses, including salaries and expenditures — into a faculty recruitment fund to be administered by the Office of the Provost.”
The memo adds that UF will always be “unwavering in our commitment to universal human dignity”: