Florida TaxWatch’s 2025 Budget Turkey Watch Report delivers an independent, line-by-line review of Florida’s conference budget worth $115.1 billion. It identifies 238 appropriations totaling over $413 million that bypassed established vetting procedures or public scrutiny—designating them as “Budget Turkeys”—and flags an additional $799.5 million in member projects that merit heightened executive review.
The analysis places these findings in the context of a 100-plus-day legislative session marked by deep policy disagreements, a historic budget impasse, and more than 1,600 local member projects exceeding $2 billion. It details how many of these projects circumvent competitive grant processes or displace funds from statewide priorities, cataloguing the most problematic categories: university and college construction, agricultural promotion facilities, local parks and boating projects, transportation earmarks, historic and cultural grants, and water-quality line items redirected to member-specific projects.
Florida TaxWatch recommends that the Governor rigorously evaluate each flagged appropriation for alignment with core state functions, transparency, and return on taxpayer investment—vetoing or redlining as necessary—and urges the Legislature to establish statutory, competitive selection processes for recurring project categories to restore accountability, protect statewide priorities, and ensure prudent fiscal stewardship.
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