DeSantis Wraps Final Bill-Signing Season After Reshaping Florida Law Over Eight Years

Nocatee, FL — Governor Ron DeSantis has likely concluded his final regular bill-signing season, closing one of his last opportunities to shape Florida law from the governor's desk, according to a review of his eight-year tenure published on July 6. With the new fiscal year underway and DeSantis barred by the state constitution from seeking a consecutive third term, the regular lawmaking window for his administration is effectively closed.

The review found that DeSantis signed 2,037 regular-session bills since 2019 and issued 66 regular-session vetoes, with his busiest year coming in 2023 when 341 measures became law. His agenda expanded school choice through a 2023 law eliminating income limits on scholarships, imposed new abortion restrictions including a six-week ban, authorized permitless carry of firearms, and tightened election rules. He also signed legislation restricting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and overhauled the state's property insurance market.

DeSantis used his veto power to block measures he opposed, rejecting a 2022 net-metering bill that critics said would have hurt rooftop solar incentives, an alimony overhaul that year over retroactivity concerns, and a 2024 hemp restrictions bill he said would burden small businesses. Over eight years he vetoed approximately $10.6 billion in spending through Florida's line-item veto, cutting local projects and legislative priorities while his office framed the cuts as fiscal discipline in a fast-growing state budget.

Nocatee, a master-planned community in St. Johns County with roughly 30,000 residents, sits about 15 miles south of Jacksonville in one of Florida's fastest-growing coastal regions.

His final budget, signed in June for the 2026-27 fiscal year, totaled $117.6 billion after nearly $810 million in line-item vetoes, which his office called the fourth straight year of declining state spending. Democrats and local officials have criticized the cuts as harmful to community projects and social services, while DeSantis and his allies defended them as necessary restraint. The next governor will decide how much of what DeSantis promoted as his Florida blueprint continues, is revised, or is rolled back.