Here are all the policies Byron Donalds wants as Florida’s next governor

 

Following Republican candidate Byron Donalds’ victory for the Florida governor’s seat this week, many residents may be wondering: what does he plan to do now?

Donalds is expected to take over the position from current Gov. Ron DeSantis in January, and the next Legislative session is slated to start soon after.

Donalds’ campaign site lists out the 11 primary issues that he plans to tackle after taking the reins.

You can find the full breakdown of these issues — and the policies he wants to implement — below:

AFFORDABILITY

• Bring down insurance bills
• • Lawsuit Abuse: Protect reforms and stop lawsuit abuse that jacks up rates for everyone, saving homeowners hundreds of dollars a year.
  • Cost Mitigation: Lower costs by trimming down state fees when reserves are full so those extra dollars stay in residents’ wallets. Pursue regulatory reforms that lower insurance premiums.
  • My Safe Florida Home: Reform the My Safe Florida Home program and other grants programs to fund real, storm-hardening upgrades that lower annual premiums the most.
  • Citizens Insurance: Keep Citizens Insurance small so everyday drivers and homeowners never get hit with a surprise “hurricane tax” bill after a big storm.
  • Streamlining permits: Cut the red tape and tedious permitting that make rebuilding a home after a storm needlessly expensive and drive up your insurance premiums.
• Hold insurance companies accountable
• • Online Scorecards: Create a simple online Scorecard where you can compare insurance companies side by side on price, how fast they pay claims, and how often they deny coverage.
  • Data Reporting: Require insurers to report accurate data or pay real fines, keeping the tool free for taxpayers by having the insurance industry cover the cost.
• Protecting homeowners and utility payers
• • Property Taxes: Keep property taxes in check so seniors and working families aren’t taxed out of their homes.
  • Data Centers: Stop giant industrial data centers from passing their massive electric and water bills onto everyday households.

HEALTHCARE

• Upfront, clear cash prices
• • Require doctors and hospitals to post plain, guaranteed cash prices for the 50 most common medical tests and procedures.
• Best price guarantee
• • Ensure everyday patients paying cash get the lowest discounted rate that the hospital gives to big insurance companies.
• No out-of-network traps
• • Let what you pay to an out-of-network doctor count directly toward your yearly insurance deductible.
• Fast insurance approvals
• • Require insurance companies to approve common treatments within three days instead of letting paperwork delay your care.
• Cheaper prescriptions
• • Expose pharmacy middleman markups so prescription discounts get passed straight to you at the checkout counter.

ECONOMY

• A public shot clock on permits
• • Put every business, building, and road permit on an open state website with a ticking clock, forcing local offices to approve projects on time.
• Streamlined state reviews
• • Bring all major development permits under a single digital hub so job creators spend less time in lines and more time hiring workers.
• Specialized business courts
• • Route complicated business lawsuits through specialized judges so commercial fights don’t clog up everyday neighborhood courtrooms.
• Keep Florida income-tax free
• • Keep our state personal income tax at zero, make sure Tallahassee balances its books responsibly every single year, and cut taxes at every opportunity.

EDUCATION

• Read to succeed
• • Classroom Reading: Train future teachers in proven phonics and reading science so every classroom teaches reading the right way.
  • Reading Issues: Catch reading issues early in Kindergarten through 2nd grade, before children fall behind.
  • Reading Tutors: Provide free, state-funded tutoring for every 3rd grader struggling with reading.
  • Reading Teachers: Reward top-performing reading teachers with real bonus pay for getting results.
  • “Real Books”: Bring back real books in the classroom instead of parking young kids in front of screens all day.
• LaunchPad Florida
• • Apprenticeships: Connect high schools and community colleges with local businesses to offer paid apprenticeships in construction, advanced manufacturing, and defense.
  • Career Focus: Help young Floridians step straight into careers earning around $60,000 a year without taking on piles of student debt.
• Personalized success plans for every student
• • Success Plans: Every student gets a tailored success plan no later than 6th grade, with annual updates through graduation.
  • Higher Learning: College, university, workforce/trade, military, entrepreneurship, and hybrid pathways are equally resourced and equally respected. Internship, apprenticeship, and industry certification milestones are baked into each plan, not treated as add-ons.
  • Family Roles: Families are co-authors, not bystanders. Annual plan reviews include parent conversations.
  • No Status Quo: Transparency for parents means schools are held accountable so that each student is receiving a plan to express their God-given talents. No more education factories or status quo.
• Physical fitness
• • Fitness Tests: Bring back the Presidential Fitness Test to build healthy habits and keep kids active throughout the school day.
  • Mini-Grants: Give mini-grants to schools that encourage regular daily recess and structured physical activity.
  • Parents Get Scores: Send fitness scores straight home to mom and dad, keeping children’s private health data out of state databases.
• Parental rights and classroom focus
• • Parental Choice: Let education money follow the student so parents can choose the best school for their child.
  • No Politics: Keep partisan political theories out of the classroom so schools focus strictly on the basics: reading, math, and science.

SPACE AND TECH

• Bring NASA Headquarters to Florida
• • Work to move NASA headquarters and the Space Force Academy right to our Space Coast where the rockets actually launch.
• Fast-track space hubs
• • Pre-approve the top 10 industrial space manufacturing sites across the state so aerospace companies set up shop in Florida without delay.
• Hands-on tech training
• • Train Florida high schoolers and college students to work as skilled aerospace welders, machinists, and launch technicians.
• Host the Space Race Summit
• • Bring leading private aerospace innovators and engineers together to ensure Florida stays the world’s top launchpad.

INFRASTRUCTURE

• Fix traffic and gridlock
• • Speed up road construction and bridge improvements without adding new toll booths to your daily commute.
• Harden the power grid
• • Require utility companies to strengthen power lines and water plants to withstand major Category 4 and 5 hurricanes.
• Rapid storm cleanup
• • Keep utility trucks, repair crews, and emergency fuel supplies ready to roll into affected neighborhoods before a hurricane even hits.

LAW AND ORDER

• No taxpayer handouts
• • Cut off state funds, subsidies, and free perks that encourage illegal immigration into Florida.
• Enforce workplace rules
• • Require every Florida business to use the E-Verify system so legal workers keep the jobs and wages they’ve earned.
• Remove dangerous criminals
• • Coordinate state and local police directly with federal authorities to quickly deport noncitizens who commit crimes in our communities.
• Crack down on fentanyl
• • Target drug cartels with heavy penalties and joint police task forces to take deadly fentanyl off Florida streets.

HEALTHY FLORIDA

• Clean school food
• • Junk Food: Clear ultra-processed junk food, chemical additives, and artificial dyes off school breakfast and lunch menus.
  • No Candy: Stop schools from selling candy, sugary sodas, and energy drinks at after school events.
  • Cafeteria Menus: Require school districts to post all cafeteria menus and ingredient lists online so parents can easily see what their children are eating.
  • Florida Farms: Support our state’s farmers by connecting local Florida farms straight to school lunchrooms.
• Clean water in every school
• • Tap Water: Require every Florida school to test its tap water for lead and harmful chemicals, and post every result online.
  • Old Pipes: Fix old pipes and install certified water filters immediately whenever unsafe water is detected.
  • “Forever Chemicals”: Test for modern contaminants like microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and “forever chemicals.”
  • Water Testing: Provide free or low-cost water testing for Florida families with young children who rely on private well water.

BACKING THE BLUE

• Recruit the best officers
• • Offer hiring bonuses and competitive salaries to bring the top police officers, sheriff’s deputies, and first responders to Florida.
• Defend law enforcement
• • Protect the legal rights police need to do their jobs safely without worrying about frivolous complaints.
• Keep violent criminals in jail
• • Enforce firm prison sentences for violent offenders so career criminals don’t walk free to victimize our neighborhoods.

ENVIRONMENT

• Restore the Everglades
• • Finish planned reservoir and canal projects currently under construction to keep clean, fresh water flowing south into Florida Bay. Work with stakeholders to keep Everglades restoration moving forward.
• Fight red tide and algae
• • Clean up local waterways by fixing leaking sewer lines and reducing and controlling runoff.
• Guard our beaches and water supply
• • Protect coastal barrier islands from severe storms and preserve our freshwater underground aquifers for generations to come.

TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

• Regular independent audits
• • Annual Audits: Run annual audits across all levels of government—from Tallahassee agencies down to local utility and special districts.
  • Watchdog Audits: Expand state watchdog audits to track down waste, cut bloated programs, and save taxpayers money.
• Every dime online
• • Public Website: Put every state, county, and city contract onto one searchable, public website that anyone can look up from their phone.
  • Simple Charts: Require every city hall and county commission to post a simple pie chart showing where your tax money actually goes.
• Open public salaries
• • Put local city managers and high-ranking municipal bureaucrats on the same public salary tracker that already lists state worker pay.
• Honest taxes and fees
• • Property Tax Mailings: Clean up annual property tax mailings so you see a clear, simple chart of exactly which local offices are taking a cut of your money.
  • Mystery Fees: Review all local permits and municipal charges to stop local governments from slipping hidden mystery fees onto your monthly utility bills.