Budget Watch - FY2017-18 GAA Only Tells Part of Florida's Budget Story

The 2017 Florida Legislature passed a $82.418 billion General Appropriations Act (GAA), already the largest in the state’s history. But this is not all the money appropriated this year. Every session, the Legislature makes a relatively small amount of appropriations in other bills, including funding for agencies to implement new programs authorized by the legislation. This session, the Legislature took this to a new level, passing 23 bills with nearly $2.5 billion in additional appropriations. This funding includes $1.5 billion to reimburse hospitals for uncompensated care (Low Income Pool), $419.0 million for education programs, and $183.1 million for state employee pay raises.

In addition, the Governor called the Legislature back in Special Session to increase funding for education, economic development, and tourism marketing. Lawmakers did that and more, passing three bills containing an additional $517.3 million.

After deducting the Governor’s vetoes, the net result is FY2017-18 appropriations totaling $85.158 billion, a $2.9 billion (3.5 percent) increase over the current year. This includes $31.570 billion in General Revenue (GR).