Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis joined lawmakers in Tallahassee on Tuesday to deliver his final State of the State address.

Throughout the address DeSantis touted his accomplishes, many of which were followed by rounds of thunderous applause from lawmakers.

"Seven years ago, I stood on the steps of the Old Capitol Building to articulate a new vision, launch a bold agenda and make a promise to produce big results," DeSantis said. "Today I stand here in this chamber to report that, together, we have made good on that agenda. We have been faithful to that vision. We have delivered big results. And we have set the standard for the rest of the country to follow. We are the free state of Florida."

DeSantis also noted the responsibility he and lawmakers have to ensure freedom is passed on to future generations.

"Now, as elected officials, we're tasked with dealing with important issues affecting the lives and liberties of our people," DeSantis said. "From taxes to education to crime and the environment and everything in between. But on the most basic level, we and the people we represent as inheritors of the American legacy of liberty, are charged with answering that original question about the capacity of we the people to govern ourselves."

He said it's easy to be pessimistic about that, however.

He said that in the past decade cities like Chicago and San Francisco have been "destroyed by failed ideologies," and watched once dominate states spark an exodus among citizens due to harmful policies.

"And even as we cheer the removal of a Marxist dictator in Venezuela, we saw the election of a Marxist mayor in our nation's largest city," DeSantis said as some boos were heard among lawmakers.

In Florida, however, DeSantis said "it can be done."

"We're proving that freedom can be preserved, that order can be maintained. That opportunity can be expanded and that self-government can, in fact, endure," DeSantis said.

Results are what matter the most, DeSantis continued.

"And, we, more than any other state, have delivered those big results," DeSantis stated.

Florida rainy day fund, budget reserves grew under DeSantis leadership

DeSantis said that seven years ago the state only had a modest rainy day fund and modest budget reserves.

"Today, after working together, we have more than tripled our rainy day fund and more than doubled our budget reserves," DeSantis said.

DeSantis said that while he was in office, he retired almost all of Florida's taxpayer-supported debt that accumulated throughout the history of the state of Florida.

"And because the legislature has supported efforts to accelerate repayment of this debit, we've saved more than $1 billion on principle and interest costs," he said.

DeSantis said that, working together with lawmakers, "We have made the state of Florida the most taxpayer-friendly state government of all 50 states," DeSantis said.

Florida sees highest high school graduation rate in state history

DeSantis applauded all of the advances in education in the state of Florida, and announced that the state recently saw it's highest high school graduation rater in state history.

"Seven years ago, Florida's school choice options were capped. They were limited. Today, we have universal school choice and rank as the number one state in the Union for parental empowerment and education freedom," DeSantis said.

He said that the state replaced high stakes testing with more reliable and consistent progress monitoring.

"In fact, today, I can announce that the high school graduation rate for the (20)24-(20_25 school year, was 92.2%," DeSantis announced. "That's the highest graduation rate in Florida history."

DeSantis also said that over his terms he codified a teacher Bill of Rights that guarantees the right to teach in an "orderly classroom" and enacted paycheck protection against automatic school union dues.

"And prohibited students from using cell phones in the classroom," he continued. "And that was not popular at the time but it sure as heck is popular today." 

He also said the state has "defeated attempts to let boys into girls sports, to inject gender ideology into elementary schools and to deny parents the right to direct the education and upbringing of their children."

DeSantis said that he's ensured that schools have "a duty to educate, not a right to indoctrinate."

Funding for Florida Everglades restoration quadrupled

DeSantis said that seven years ago the efforts to restore the Florida Everglades stalled, but he made a pledge to change that.

"Together, we have more than quadrupled the funding for Everglades restoration and water quality," DeSantis said.

In addition, the state completed a record number of projects, tripled the water storage capacity through the Everglades and advanced the completion of the Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir by five years.

"Now, as that Seminole wind blows from the Okeechobee all the way up to Micanopy, water flows south to Florida Bay where salinity levels are the healthiest in decades and coastal communities are protected against the discharging of polluted waters into the surrounding estuaries. Even the flamingoes have returned inside the Everglades."

DeSantis said the effort has been the largest environmental restoration in the entire country.

Florida "top law and order state" in the country

DeSantis said that Florida is now the top law and order state in the nation.

"Safety is paramount," DeSantis said. "Our law enforcement personnel deserve our support, and they have received it."

DeSantis said he's ensures that state and local law enforcement officers have been gettin the support they need.

"We've enacted the death penalty for pedophiles and treated the fentanyl dealers that have poisoned our people as the murderers that they are," DeSantis said.  

The state has also "rejected the movement to defund the police."

"Seven years ago, Florida didn't prohibit sanctuary cities. And even provided taxpayer benefits, such as in-state tuition. Today? Sanctuary cities are banned," DeSantis said. "Those benefits have been repealed and incentives to come here illegally have been reversed."

DeSantis said Florida is the only state in the country that requires state and local cooperation with federal interior enforcement efforts.

"In the past nine months alone, Florida is responsible for the apprehension of nearly 20,000 illegal aliens that have been turned over to the Department of Homeland Security to be returned to their home countries. Our people are safer because of these efforts."

DeSantis wants tax relief brought to residents

"Well, we have fulfilled our promises. We have more time, and we need to make the most of it," DeSantis said.

He said that the state has the lowest taxes at the state level in the country, but "our citizens have been squeezed" by rising property tax assessments.

"Seven years ago, local governments throughout Florida took in about $32 billion in property tax revenue. Last year, that number rose to a whopping $56 billion," DeSantis said. "We have residents locked into their homes because they can't afford the taxes on a new residence."

DeSantis said that homeowners should be able to own their own home without having to pay "perpetual rent to the government."

"The legislature has the ability to put a measure on the ballot to provide transformational relief to taxpayers," DeSantis said. "Let's resolve to all work together, get something done and let the people have a say."

DeSantis says Artificial intelligence has ability to upend key parts of economy

DeSantis also said that we're in the midst of technological changes that will "permeate our society for years to come."

"Artificial intelligence is touted as being the key to curing cancer and expanding America's military edge of our rivals," he said. "And perhaps this will be true. But this technology also threatens to upend key parts of our economy in ways that could leave many Americans out of work."

AI can also be a danger to children, he said.

"AI chatbots have already been linked to teen suicides," he said. "It can also further devolve our society into a focus not on substance, but on online slop."

He said whoever controls AI date inputs will have "immense power to shape the reality for hundreds of millions, maybe billions of people in ways that could make the truth a foreign concept."

DeSantis said we had a responsibility to ensure that technologies develop in ways that are moral and ethical.

"We welcome technologies that enhance the human experience, but not those purporting to supplant it," he said.