Indeed, when DeSantis released his first budget proposal earlier this year he called it a “bold vision for a brighter future.” When he announced his proposed spending plan for 2020-2021, he said it would lead to a “bolder, brighter, better future.”

State economists expect general revenue collections to increase by a billion dollars and DeSantis wants to divert money to set a minimum starting teacher salary of $47,500 — a raise for 101,000 public school teachers — and earmark $625 million for Everglades restoration and water quality programs.

“It is great to have bold ideas ... but we live in the realm of what is possible. All the stuff we laid out is doable, possible and will have a real impact on the state of Florida,” the Republican governor said at a press conference. 

DeSantis noted that even though he wants to increase government spending, his proposal has the smallest increase in general revenue spending in the past nine years.   

At a cost of $3,640 per resident, Florida delivers services to residents at the lowest cost in the nation — trailing Texas ($3,925), California ($6,607), and New York ($7,910), according to the Kaiser Foundation.

“I said we have got to do this in a way that is fiscally responsible and fiscally sustainable,” DeSantis said. “And I think that is what we have done today.”

House Speaker Jose Oliva agreed, calling the spending plan “most encouraging.”

“He is to be commended for a strict adherence to fiscal restraint,” said Oliva, a Miami Lakes Republican. “His commitment to responsible spending is crystal clear."

But both Oliva and Senate President Bill Galvano telegraphed that it'll be tough for lawmakers to accept all of DeSantis' budget recommendations in a tight budget year.

DeSantis recommends $480.5 million in cuts and the elimination of 144 jobs in a state government workforce of more than 97,000 employees. Almost all those positions targeted for elimination are currently vacant. The lost positions will be made up by new hires in the Department of Corrections and the Department of Veterans Affairs, which will open two hospitals next fiscal year.

The largest reductions in spending will come with the elimination of the Best and Brightest teacher bonus program.  It consumes about $284 million in the current budget, but DeSantis said he agrees with critics that the program is unworkable and teachers have complained the lawmaker-designed bonus system is unfair. 

DeSantis takes that money and adds it to a pot that will spend an additional $600 million to raise all teachers’ salaries and another $300 million on a new bonus program for teachers and principals. Also, the education proposal boosts the per-student funding in the classroom by $302 to a total of $7,979.

The proposal would increase the "required local effort," the amount local school districts must spend to qualify for state dollars, by a total of $158 million, which DeSantis said would come mostly from property taxes paid by new construction.