The release of the governor’s budget proposal is a closely watched event each year in the Capitol.

Big numbers get tossed around. Reporters scramble to figure out what the governor wants. Industry groups look at how they fared.

But the truth is, the release of the governor’s budget is only a prelude to the real action. Sometime in April, that will play out as legislative leaders and staff members work behind the scenes to cut deals that will result in a new budget.

Showing no signs of taming a ferocious debut as Florida’s chief of state, Gov. Ron DeSantis kicked off February with a $91.3 billion spending plan padded with a little something for everyone.

The governor’s budget proposal --- the largest in state history --- boosts funding for public schools, pumps money into water projects and trims taxes.

For those whose eyes glaze over when they encounter the words “budget,” DeSantis provided plenty of other fodder this week.

In what would be the largest budget in state history, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday released a proposed $91.3 billion spending plan that would increase school funding, pump money into water-quality projects and trim taxes. DeSantis’ proposal is a starting point for lawmakers, who will negotiate a 2019-2020 budget during the legislative session that starts March 5. The Legislature typically makes significant changes to spending proposals offered by governors.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is backing a proposal allowing “greater choice and mobility” in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Housing Choice Voucher Program.

Last week, Rubio threw his support behind U.S. Sen. Todd Young’s, R-Ind., “Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration Act.” Other cosponsors include U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

Gov. Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order 19-32 Friday, outlining a path for Florida to improve its education system by eliminating Common Core and paving the way for Florida students to receive a world-class education to prepare them for jobs of the future. 

This week, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. , to create a task force to offer a national strategy “to keep communities safe from targeted violence through threat assessment and management.”

Rubio paired up with U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC, to introduce the “Threat Assessment, Prevention, and Safety (TAPS) Act" which, they insist,  “would help provide resources, training, and assistance in establishing and operating locally driven threat assessment and management units."

Gov. Ron DeSantis kicked off the start of Deregathon Thursday alongside First Lady Casey DeSantis, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez and Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) Secretary Halsey Beshears at Valencia College in Orlando.

 The one-day event held in conjunction with Florida’s Professional Licensing Boards aims to find solutions to harmful regulations facing Floridians, to strengthen the state’s economy.

He’s not calling it a cartel, as Gov. Ron DeSantis did.

But House Speaker José Oliva acknowledged this week that the state’s “vertically integrated” medical marijuana system --- which requires operators to grow, process and dispense cannabis and related products --- “isn’t terribly free market.”

“I couldn’t possibly be a defender of free markets and call that structure a free market,” the Miami Lakes Republican, who made his fortune in the cigar business, told reporters Wednesday at an Associated Press event at the Capitol.

Senate leaders from both sides of the aisle disputed former Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher’s contention she wouldn’t receive a fair hearing in the Republican-dominated Senate if she challenged her removal from office.

On Wednesday, Senate President Bill Galvano said hearings by his chamber on suspensions handed down by Gov. Ron DeSantis are a check between the legislative and executive branches.

Now in the minority for the first time during his tenure in Congress, U.S. Rep. Dan Webster, R-Fla., has paired up with U.S. Rep. Colin Peterson, D-Minn., to encourage healthcare providers to offer free services for low-income Americans on Medicaid or the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).