FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, June 8, 2026 CONTACT: Christina Johnson Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida TaxWatch released its 2026 Budget Turkey Watch Report, an annual independent review of the state budget to promote […]
Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) released its 2021 Budget Turkey Watch Report, an independent review of the state’s FY 2021-22 budget. The annual practice is based on the principle that, because funds appropriated by the Legislature belong to Florida taxpayers, the process must be transparent and accountable, and every appropriation should receive proper deliberation and public debate.
The 2021 Budget turkey Watch report: an analysis of the transparency and accountability of the Budget processis the result of an annual independent review of Florida’s FY2021-22 budget by Florida TaxWatch. Budget Turkeys are items, usually local member projects, placed in individual line-items or accompanying proviso language that are added to the final appropriations bill without being fully scrutinized and subjected to the budget process.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) released the Budget Turkey Watch Report, its annual independent review of the state’s FY2019-20 budget. The report promotes additional oversight and integrity in Florida’s budgeting process and is based on the principle that because money appropriated by the Legislature belongs to the taxpayers of Florida, the process must be transparent and accountable, and every appropriation should receive proper deliberation and public debate.
T he 2019 Budget Turkey Watch Report: An Analysis of the Transparency and Accountability of the Budget Process is the result of an annual independent review of Florida’s new budget by Florida TaxWatch. The report started in 1983, and having been published annually since 1986, promotes additional oversight and integrity in the state’s budgeting process based on the principle that: because money appropriated by the Legislature belongs to the taxpayers of Florida, the process must be transparent and accountable, and every appropriation should receive deliberation and public debate. The budget review identifies appropriations that circumvent transparency and accountability standards in public budgeting.
Florida TaxWatch’s annual independent review of Florida’s FY2018-19 budget, the Budget Turkey Watch Report , was released today. The report promotes additional oversight and integrity in the state’s budgeting process based on the principle that: because money appropriated by the Legislature belongs to the taxpayers of Florida, the process must be transparent and accountable, and every appropriation should receive deliberation and public debate.
The $88.7 billion budget passed by the Florida House and Senate for FY2018-19 contains 87 appropriations items qualifying as Budget Turkeys worth $147.5 million. Since projects were not added to the budget during conference this year, most of these were flagged because they circumvented established selection processes. This includes 56 local transportation projects worth nearly $120 million. These member projects, for which there is no formal evaluation and selection process, bypass the transportation planning process, potentially diverting funds from projects that are in the DOT work program.
The $82.4 billion budget passed by the Florida House and Senate for FY2017-18 contains 111 appropriations items qualifying as Budget Turkeys worth $177.8 million. Most of these (79 projects worth $139.4 million) are transportation projects that are not in the Department of Transportation Work Program.
Each year, the Budget Turkey Report consists of only a very small percentage of the state budget and this year represented just over 0.1 percent. The $82.3 billion budget passed by the Florida House and Senate on March 11, 2016 contains 143 appropriations items worth $104.9 million qualifying as Budget Turkeys.
Despite lawmakers’ efforts to increase transparency while crafting the 2015-16 Florida state budget, 189 projects worth $167 million were inserted into the budget without sufficient public scrutiny, or circumventing established budget processes, and found their way to the Budget Turkey Watch list.
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