- June 9, 2026
With delivery of the $114.5 billion state budget for the next fiscal year pending, Florida TaxWatch raised questions over $829.7 million in the spending plan, including $50 million tied to a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays.
In its annual “turkey” list, the Tallahassee-based nonprofit identified 621 items for Gov. Ron DeSantis to consider for vetoes. DeSantis has line-item veto power on the budget, which will take effect July 1.
The budget items are targeted based on how they were included in the spending plan, often with little or no public discussion, rather than on merit.
TaxWatch President and CEO Jeff Kottkamp, a former lieutenant governor and lawmaker, said many of the turkey list items come from an increasing number of member projects scattered throughout the budget.
“It has proliferated. In my view, it’s a problem. I mean, 2,000 member projects are in this budget. That’s incredible,” Kottkamp said. “Every year, we are looking more and more like Congress. It’s just spend, spend, spend.”
Republican leaders who crafted the budget, though, have noted it is less than the $115 billion current year spending plan.
The projects highlighted by TaxWatch include $5 million for a basketball training facility at Florida State University, $1.8 million for renovations to the Hamilton School Building at the University of Florida, $2.9 million for facilities and a generator at the Florida Strawberry Festival, $3.5 million for improvements to Farr Field in Wauchula, $500,000 for the Bay of Pigs Museum & Library in Miami, and $135,000 for the USS Orleck naval museum in Duval County.
The list also includes $50 million for “campus improvements” at Hillsborough Community College. The money is tied to efforts for a pending deal for a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays.
The report also targeted $380 million that would go to water-related projects and housing.
