TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A new proposal from the Florida House would sharply limit Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ability to spend hundreds of millions from the state’s emergency reserve on immigration enforcement, setting up an unusual political alignment that pits the Republican-led House alongside Senate Democrats in an escalating power struggle with the governor.

The House measure, filed late Thursday just days before the state’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund is set to expire, would extend the multibillion-dollar account through 2030 but restrict its use primarily to natural disasters while imposing new reporting and oversight requirements.

If passed, the changes would effectively block DeSantis from using the fund for immigration operations — spending that has transformed what was intended as a hurricane-response reserve into one of the most flexible tools in the Republican governor’s political arsenal.

Since January 2023, DeSantis has renewed Florida’s state of emergency on illegal immigration 20 times, allowing his administration to continuously access the emergency fund without prior legislative approval.

That rolling emergency declaration enabled more than $573 million to be spent on immigration enforcement from the account since 2023, including $405 million in just the past six months tied to pop-up detention centers, private jet costs and restaurant bills. Critics across the political spectrum have argued that repeatedly extending the emergency effectively converted a disaster-response reserve into a standing funding stream for immigration policy.

The House proposal appears to be a direct response, as well as an effort to reassert legislative control over spending some lawmakers say has strayed far beyond the fund’s original purpose. It would rein in the governor’s authority by limiting the fund to preparing for or responding to natural emergencies that exceed normal appropriations — language that would exclude immigration enforcement and similar non-natural disaster operations.

The move follows a bitter feud last spring between DeSantis and House Republicans over sweeping immigration legislation, when House leaders accused the governor’s office of advancing costly enforcement measures without sufficient consultation or budget transparency.

DeSantis publicly criticized the House’s approach and threatened vetoes, exposing rare fractures within the Republican supermajority. Although the dispute was resolved, tensions lingered as the administration continued financing immigration operations through the repeatedly renewed emergency.

In a twist underscoring shifting alliances in Tallahassee, the House plan mirrors and even expands guardrails Senate Democrats unsuccessfully sought to add to the Senate’s bill to renew the fund through 2027. Those proposals, including tighter limits on non-disaster spending and new legislative oversight, were rejected by Senate Republicans wary of jeopardizing negotiations with the governor or risking the fund’s expiration.

The House proposal arrives as lawmakers face a looming deadline: the emergency fund is set to expire Monday unless both chambers pass identical legislation and send it to the governor.

If no agreement is reached, remaining funds would revert to general revenue and DeSantis would immediately lose access to one of his most expansive emergency spending authorities — at least until lawmakers create a new mechanism.

That possibility has injected urgency into negotiations and heightened the stakes of what has become a test of legislative independence from a governor who has long dominated Tallahassee politics.

Whether the House’s restrictive approach prevails or is watered down in negotiations with the Senate could determine not only the future of the emergency fund but also how much unilateral spending power Florida’s governor retains as hurricane season looms over the coming year.

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