TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis took his veto pen to the state budget Thursday, wiping out millions of dollars in programs to address gun violence and black history, and millions more in a district where a key Republican senator endorse his main opponent for the presidency, Donald Trump.
DeSantis vetoed about $30 million in projects, including $20 million for a University of South Florida nursing campus in the Sarasota area, represented by Sen. Joe Gruters, the former chairman of the Republican of Florida.
Gruters lashed out at DeSantis, who is running for president, on Thursday afternoon, saying in a text message that “the governor is clearly upset that he endorsed Donald Trump for president and so he did it against the people of Sarasota County.”
Gruters said it was a sign of the difference between DeSantis and the former president, who understands “that people come first.”
“The governor clearly sees politics differently,” Gruters said. “It’s petty acts like this that define him here and around the country.”
Sarasota took it on the chin with vetoes.
$20 million nursing school at USF.
$4 million Fruitville Road.
$1.5 million education foundation
$1 million midnight pass
$1M Alligator Creek Pipes
$800,000 Whitaker and Hudson Bayou
$600,000 Sarasota School of the Arts
$250,000 Bobby Jones pic.twitter.com/g9kYwnCoyc
— Jacob Ogles (@jacobogles) June 15, 2023
DeSantis generally ran away with his veto pen, issuing line vetoes about 510 million dollars in statewide projects from a $117 billion budget that was unanimously approved by the state legislature in May.
Last year, he cut a record $3.3 billion from a $110 billion budget, including many of the priorities of Republican leaders, surprising observers.
This year, DeSantis cut numerous social and diversity programs while preserving billions of dollars to pursue his conservative political agenda.
During a news conference Thursday at a yacht club in Fort Pierce, DeSantis did not mention the vetoes, which his office released a few hours later.
He justified the size of the state budget by increasing spending in other states and the federal government.
“We are good fiscal stewards,” he said. “We want to be a good place to be a citizen … not only by taxing lightly but also by spending sensibly.”
Cuts to Black History and Gun Violence Prevention
While this year’s hit was lighter, it still cut millions in programs across the state.
As GOP lawmakers pushed through a bill that would allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons without a permit, Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, worked to secure $5 million to fund groups working to end gun violence in the community.
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DeSantis vetoed it. Rouson said he was disappointed and said the state could see more gun violence with the permit-less carry law taking effect July 1.
“It makes sense to expand the programs that are actually doing the work to prevent more gun violence,” Rouson said.
DeSantis also vetoed funding for projects that promote aspects of black history, an action that is consistent with the governor’s years-long push to restrict how racism and other aspects of history can be taught in schools and work places.
The governor eliminated $160,000 in funding for a Black History Month celebration in Orlando called 1619 Fest, whose theme this year was to raise awareness of health disparities facing black people in the United States. DeSantis also cut $200,000 in funding for Florida’s Black Music Legacy, a project designed to highlight the state’s contributions to black music.
Last year, DeSantis vetoed $1 million for Valencia College to create a feature film about the 1920 Ocoee Election Day Massacre, in which a white mob attacked and killed dozens of black voters in the worst case of violence on election day in the nation.
Numerous other programs were also cut, including:
More than $3.6 million for opioid research and treatment programs17 drainage improvement projects across the state$6.4 million to repair or renovate 21 public broadcasting stations across the state
DeSantis spokespeople did not respond to questions about why the programs were cut.
But Democrats, who voted unanimously for the state budget, criticized the governor for cutting millions in social programs.
“Budgets are not just numbers on spreadsheets, they are a reflection of our values and priorities,” House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, said in a statement. “Ron DeSantis and his veto pen made Florida worse today.”
Record the spending plan
Fiscally, DeSantis didn’t have to cut anything. Booming tax revenues and billions of dollars in federal aid have allowed lawmakers and DeSantis to spend freely while allocating a record $15.3 billion to reserves.
The state’s fiscal 2023-24 budget is a record $116.5 billion, a 28 percent increase over DeSantis’ first state budget in 2019-20.
Florida TaxWatch, the Tallahassee-based business-backed budget watchdog, urged the governor to veto 38 projects that were inserted into the budget during the negotiations process by House and Senate leaders. Money is handed out by leaders on “sprinkler lists” and projects are often used as leverage for late-session votes and deal-making.
TaxWatch said in a statement that “these lists diminish confidence in the budget process and should be discontinued.”
In a jab at House and Senate leaders, the governor left 29 of the late insertions in the budget, while targeting only nine worth about $11.5 million, including:
$400,000 for Herzing University Nursing Lab and Training Center Simulation Training Center$111,006 for the City of Hallandale Beach – Austin Hepburn Senior Mini Center$2.5 million for Wellfield improvements to Tampa Bay’s Morris Bridge$500,000 for the 1st Avenue North and 25th Street Pedestrian Safety Project in St. Petersburg$5 million for a highway at the Moffitt Cancer Center Life Sciences Campus
DeSantis, as with most governors, has always used the budget as a political tool, but this year he took it to a new level as he runs for president.
NBC News reportedand the governor’s office confirmed, that DeSantis’ chief of staff, James Uthmeier, as well as other staff members, were actively involved in making fundraising calls to benefit his presidential campaign by soliciting donations from groups pressure from Tallahassee, some with clients who were waiting to see if the projects they donated were vetoed.
Billions in DeSantis priorities
This year’s budget put a premium on expanding state spending in areas that previous GOP administrations had not funded.
Lawmakers expanded school vouchers, setting aside $2.2 billion to provide every K-12 school-age child in Florida with a voucher or an education savings account, regardless of family income. Social programs that had long been shaved off by decades of Republican policies received millions in new money.
And Democrats praised the inclusion of $20 million to expand the health insurance program for low-income children, as well as adding nearly $80 million to serve several hundred people waiting for services from Medicaid, $7.7 million to study food insecurity in Florida, more than $2 million. to boost the call center to apply for state aid and a record $711 million for affordable housing projects.
But the budget also injects millions into bolstering conservative ideology at Florida colleges and universities, and millions more for DeSantis’ priorities as he runs for president.
There’s $30 million for the new Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education, a conservative think tank affiliated with the University of Florida. The budget includes more than $34 million to turn New College of Florida into a bastion of conservative ideals, similar to Hillsdale College, a private Christian school in Michigan.
Lawmakers also appropriated $12 million, on top of nearly $8 million left over from last year, to fly migrants around the country. Another $109 million will equip DeSantis’ new Florida State Guard with planes, ships and police powers.
More than $10 million is also being allocated to various agencies to defend the administration against the inevitable lawsuits that will challenge the constitutionality of its policies.
