Gov. Ron DeSantis wants another $2.2 million for a controversial election police force. But there’s no guarantee the Legislature will provide the funding.
This week, DeSantis released his “Focus on Florida’s Future” budget and requested funding for 16 full-time positions in the Office of Election Crimes and Security.
The salaries for those positions make up more than $1.38 million in the Governor’s budget. DeSantis also wants about $411,000 for various contracted services, more than $224,000 for nonstaff expenses, and about $90,000 in other equipment and personnel costs.
That’s all pretty much the same as DeSantis requested a year ago for the current budget year, but it’s nearly $1 million more than lawmakers included in the 2023-’24 budget.
The Florida Legislature last approved about $1.4 million for the election crimes office. While that represented roughly a 20% increase in funding for the office from its inception the prior year, the Legislature approved fewer full-time positions and no equipment budget that DeSantis’ administration wanted.
It remains to be seen if the Legislature sees more value this year than it did in the past.
State Rep. Alex Andrade, chair of the House Infrastructure & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee, said he was “not sure yet” if the Legislature could meet the Governor’s request.
“They requested additional FTEs last year, and they weren’t in our budget. It’ll depend on a whole host of factors, but it’s certainly not guaranteed to be funded,” Andrade said.
The election force has also proven to be controversial.
Shortly after it was formed, the election police force arrested 20 individuals the administration claimed had registered and voted illegally in the 2020 election. Most of those individuals said they believed their right to vote had been restored after the passage of a 2018 constitutional amendment, and many had even been contacted by state or county officials and encouraged to register. Several ultimately had charges against them dropped.
The Legislature responded by giving the statewide prosecutor reporting to Attorney General Ashley Moody greater authority to prosecute individuals for election crimes.
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