Tallahassee (Florida), Mar 27 (AP) Once floated as the heir to Donald Trump's GOP, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is used to getting his way in Tallahassee.

He has wielded power like no other governor in the state's recent history and enjoys a Republican supermajority in both chambers.

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But as the governor approaches the end of his second term, that same supermajority is testing his power and checking his control over state spending and executive agencies, in a way DeSantis hasn't seen since he was elected in 2018.

For six years, DeSantis has kept lawmakers in line with his veto pen, bringing the statehouse's then-leaders on stage in 2022 to stand behind him as he slashed USD 3 billion in the legislature's prized projects and smiled for the cameras.

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"They may not be clapping about that, but that's just the way it goes," DeSantis joked at the time.

But when DeSantis returned to the Capitol for this year's session, he found an emboldened coequal branch of government willing to check and balance his power.

In recent weeks, Republicans and Democrats alike have grilled DeSantis administration officials on their spending, pushed legislation that would require agency heads live in the county where their department is headquartered, and advanced a proposal that would ban the use of state funds to advocate for or against a proposed constitutional amendment.

That measure comes after DeSantis marshalled multiple state agencies to oppose two measures on the ballot in 2024 that would have legalised recreational marijuana and expanded abortion access.

Addressing his colleagues on the House floor on Wednesday, Speaker Daniel Perez said the "state government has a spending problem".

"In the past, this House has justifiably called out local governments for misspending and mismanagement. But we have been reluctant to turn our gaze on ourselves and hold state government to those same standards," Perez said.

Then, in another rebuke of DeSantis, the Florida House voted on Wednesday to override the governor's vetoes of four items from last year's budget, totalling more than USD 5 million to help fund local water projects, a payroll system for state prisons and a program for veterans in crisis.

The veto overrides, which require a supermajority vote in both chambers, underscore lawmakers' willingness to push back against the popular Republican governor -- and fiercely defend their own constitutional duty to craft the state's budget.

"This session, we have focused on restoring the institutional role of the Florida House of Representatives," Perez said.

It is the second time that lawmakers have voted to override DeSantis' budget vetoes. The first came in January, when DeSantis called legislators back to the Capitol for a special session on immigration.

In a bold act of defiance, lawmakers quickly tossed out the governor's proposals and laid out their own vision -- and then voted to override his veto of USD 57 million for legislative support services, the first time in 15 years the legislature had taken the move.

Republican state Rep Michelle Salzman, who chaired one of the work groups overseeing the review of the governor's vetoes, called the process a "great opportunity".

"Many legislatures throughout America do this on a regular basis. So while it's something that we haven't done in a very, very, very long time, it's not something unique. It is the checks and balances of the government," Salzman said.

Also on Wednesday, Perez announced a push that is expected to set up another clash between lawmakers and the governor.

Perez is calling for the state to permanently lower its sales tax from 6 per cent to 5.25 per cent, at a time when DeSantis has been pushing to roll back the state's property taxes.

"We have forgotten a fundamental truth: this money isn't ours. Tax dollars don't belong to the government. They belong to the people," Perez said.

Democrats, who have long criticised the governor but are far outnumbered in the state Capitol, have cheered their Republican colleagues' willingness to exercise their independent authority in overriding the governor's vetoes.

"It's great to see that the legislature is flexing its coequal branch of government muscle," Democratic state Rep Kelly Skidmore told reporters.

The votes send a message to the governor, she said, "that you're not in charge as much as you thought you were". (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)