Political speech, timestamped and in context

Ron DeSantis: “We've paid down 53.5% of the state's debt just under my tenure in seven and a half years.”

Featuring: Ron DeSantis, Republican | Governor of Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis Holds Press Briefing About Medicaid Initiatives In Florida

Published October 6, 2026

But I do want to recognize our AHCA Secretary, Siobhan Harris. And we also have our state Rep. Peggy Gossett Seidman. I want to thank you for being here. We also have co … We've paid down 53.5% of the state's debt just under my tenure in seven and a half years. … The state of Florida has reduced its budget four years in a row and that's not happened in very many places. And that's not just adjusted for inflation or population. (00:19–00:31)

STATEMENT

Asserts that Florida has reduced its state debt by 53.5% during DeSantis's tenure.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

See the main statements from Ron DeSantis in this video

“We now have the lowest per capita debt in the United States for any state at the state level.”
Asserts that Florida has the lowest per capita state debt in the U.S.00:34-00:42
“We've stopped 20,000, just the state boats, our vessels have stopped 20,000 illegal aliens from washing ashore, mostly in southern Florida.”
Claims state vessels have stopped 20,000 illegal aliens from coming ashore in Florida.24:43-24:54
“AHCA has made more than 150 referrals to the Attorney General's Office based on evidence and allegations of fraud.”
Asserts that AHCA referred over 150 cases of alleged fraud to the Attorney General.29:13-29:25
“More than 220 providers were terminated from Florida Medicaid for fraud, waste or abuse.”
Asserts that over 220 providers were removed from Medicaid for misconduct.29:24-29:30
“Annual ABA expenditures are now projected at about 2.8 billion in the current fiscal year.”
Asserts that projected ABA expenditures are approximately $2.8 billion for the current fiscal year.37:54-37:59
“The state of Florida has reduced its budget four years in a row.”
Asserts that Florida has consecutively reduced its budget for four years.00:34-00:40
“We have AAA credit rating across the board as a result of that.”
Asserts that Florida has a AAA credit rating.00:55-01:04
“We also understand we're a universal school choice state.”
Asserts that Florida is a universal school choice state.20:36-20:41
“It's important that this is used for people's education and empowering parents.”
Asserts the importance of using school choice for education and empowering parents.21:00-21:06
“If you have people here illegally, that does not help the people that are entitled to be here.”
Asserts that illegal immigration negatively impacts those legally entitled to be in the U.S.21:55-22:03
“We see it in costs for healthcare that get imposed on the communities.”
Claims illegal immigration increases healthcare costs for communities.22:04-22:09
“We see it in cost in education that gets imposed on [communities].”
Claims illegal immigration increases education costs for communities.22:08-22:12
“If we had fewer uninsured motorists who disproportionately are illegal aliens, we would have even lower, lower rates on all that.”
Claims that reducing uninsured motorists, many of whom are illegal aliens, would further lower insurance rates.22:28-22:37
“In-state tuition for our universities is the same price it was the day I took office.”
Asserts that in-state tuition costs have not increased since Ron DeSantis took office.22:57-23:02
“When I became governor, they had in-state tuition, we repealed that.”
Claims that in-state tuition for illegal immigrants was repealed under his governorship.22:57-23:02
“We did do the verify for all the new hires.”
Claims implementation of E-Verify for all new hires in Florida.23:15-23:19
“The Coast Guard has stopped even more than that.”
Claims the Coast Guard has stopped more than 20,000 illegal aliens from coming ashore.24:54-24:57
“The largest [Everglades] restoration in the history of the United States of America.”
Asserts that the Everglades restoration project is the largest in U.S. history.25:11-25:24
“If this 30-year mortgage rate is going to 7, 3/4. You know, that's not something because of the state of Florida's policies.”
Claims rising mortgage rates are not due to Florida's policies.26:12-26:22
“The question's about Medicare, where there'll be people who are on Medicare that will see appointments billed to them that they never signed up for or never went to.”
Asserts that Medicare beneficiaries may see fraudulent billing for appointments they did not attend.31:35-31:48
“That's the federal government that does that. I don't know if there's a state component where we would help with that.”
Asserts that fraudulent Medicare billing is a federal issue, not a state one.31:51-31:58
“Medicaid spending on ABA services had been growing at an unsustainable rate.”
Asserts that Medicaid spending on ABA services was previously unsustainable.33:10-33:16
“The costs go up because the system is not designed to serve the patient. The system is really designed to serve the interests of really big players in this space.”
Asserts that the healthcare system prioritizes big players over patients, leading to increased costs.33:11-33:22
“The insurance companies are using AI to find more ways they can bill. The hospitals are using it to find kind of more ways they can.”
Asserts that insurance companies and hospitals use AI to increase billing.34:27-34:37
“Patients pay more because they're basically paying the cost of the technologies that are being used and they're actually getting denied more than they were prior to artificial intelligence.”
Asserts that AI in healthcare leads to higher patient costs and more denials.34:45-34:57
“The AI Bill of Rights, which passed the Florida Senate 38 to 1.”
Asserts that the AI Bill of Rights passed the Florida Senate with a vote of 38 to 1.36:45-36:50
“I don't think the current laws we have are sufficient to protect people.”
Asserts that current laws are inadequate to protect people from the risks associated with AI.38:10-38:15
“We tried to do with the AI Bill of Rights, and maybe there'll be some things that need to be tweaked on that going forward.”
Asserts that efforts were made to address AI issues with the AI Bill of Rights, but further adjustments may be needed.41:45-41:51