Late last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the state budget total of $117.9 billion and sent out a list of all the items he vetoed from the budget submitted to him by lawmakers.
In all, DeSantis trimmed about $567 million in line items from the 2025-26 state budget approved by the Florida Legislature,
There are lots of great things passed in the budget for Brevard including a new sheriff station in Viera and expansions to Port Canaveral. But I recently wrote a column after noticing one of the items vetoed was $500,000 for Aging Matters in Brevard. Now, I realize half a million dollars is a lot of money, however, it’s not even a drop in the bucket of the governor’s final budget.
It seemed to me that making sure vulnerable senior citizens in our community have enough to eat would be a higher priority for our elected leaders. I’d love to hear the governor’s thoughts on why he vetoed certain items. He’s under no obligation to do so, but still, wouldn’t it be nice to know?
Don’t feel badly. DeSantis doesn’t even bother telling our legislators ― the people who included the items in the budget ― why their requests were turned down.
My colleague David Berman reported this week local legislator Tyler Sirois found out about the vetoes just like we all did: from a list the governor’s office released in the late-afternoon of June 30 — more than five hours after DeSantis signed the budget for the fiscal year that began July 1.
DeSantis vetoed six items Sirois had sponsored for Brevard County. These vetoed items, totalling more than 450 throughout the state, had received near unanimous approval two weeks earlier from the Florida Senate and House, Berman wrote.
It’s the governor’s prerogative to veto items. But should he have to explain?
That brings us to the Question of the Week?
Should the governor have to explain why he vetoed certain budget items, like $500,000 for Aging Matters of Brevard?
You can simply cast your votes on the ballots above.
You can scan the QR code that is on the print edition page or go to https://www.floridatoday.com/opinions-columns/.
Please leave a comment telling us why you voted the way you did. In order for your comment or email to be published on our website and in next week’s print edition, you must include your first and last name.
You can also shoot me an email with “vetoes” in the subject line. I look forward to reading your responses.
Last Sunday I asked:
DO YOU THINK ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ, A MIGRANT DETENTION CENTER IN THE EVERGLADES, IS A GOOD IDEA? WHY OR WHY NOT?
The Results:
Here’s what you had to say:
I don’t approve of Alligator Alcatraz as there was no evidence of any environmental impact study or analysis.There was no consultation with environmental agencies and no prior input allowed from the community.
I also don’t approve of Governor DeSantis rewarding major campaign donors,including one scandal-plagued,with multi-million dollar,no-bid contracts for building and maintaining the facility.
Additionally much could go wrong with the administration’s rush to fill Alligator Alcatraz. We already know “administrative errors” have led to the wrongfully detained.
Also what are the protocols and where would they shelter the 3000 detainees, including pregnant women and children,in the event of a major hurricane.
Lastly if the facility is safe and secure why were Florida legislators who attempted to tour it denied access.
— Kathy Ojeda
Absolutely great What does word illegal mean? If you enter any other country illegally what would happen?
— David Szulczewski
This is an emergency. We have a limited time to deport the illegals. The Everglades will survive.
— Peter Sovich
A tent city prison for 3,000 or more in the midst of an environmentally sensitive area lacking its own water,sewer and electricity built in 10 days … what could go wrong?
— Linda Galletta
es, I think it is a great idea! The facility was already there so environmentally, the impact has already happened. We need to deport criminal illegals and this facility is isolated but convenient for our agents. I think it is a great idea! As a third generation Floridian, I completely approve!
— George Kidtner
This facility already existed so to use it to house criminals who invaded our country against our law, temporarily while awaiting deportation, is a cost effective, humanitarian solution to a national crisis that has already harmed many of our women and children who were raped snd murdered. These criminals will not get treated as well in any other country.
— R. Goldstein
Yes, a separate facility is need to support the removal of criminals from our country. As the father of a daughter who is still living with the effects of a car accident with a illegals alien. I understand the cost more than others.
— Robert Turner
This year, as of June, 59,000 individuals have been detained for immigration violations, with only four men reported to have escaped from a facility in New Jersey. Thankfully, two of the escapees were recaptured after three days, while the search for the remaining two continues as of June 15, 2025. Given the significant number of detentions and the relatively few escapes, I feel it’s important to thoughtfully reconsider the plan to construct a detention center in the Everglades. It raises a critical question: Are we genuinely concerned about the potential for escapes, or is this more about creating a sensational narrative for a president who seems to thrive on alarmist rhetoric? Moreover, I can’t help but worry about the impact that such a facility could have on the fragile ecosystem of the Everglades. I believe there are more compassionate and environmentally responsible approaches to addressing immigration challenges. Therefore, I would have to voice my opposition to the idea of building a detention center in this precious area. It’s crucial that we find solutions that respect both people and the environment.
— Marcie Sizemore Ramirez
Alligator Alcatraz was a political stunt by DeSantis to suck up to Trump and keep his name in the media for another presidential run. Deportation is a harsh and often inhumane approach to illegal immigration when our government has failed us over the last two to three decades (both Dems and Republicans) to institute comprehensive immigration reform, including a clear and efficient path to citizenship for many hardworking people that support our agricultural, homebuilding and services economies. Stop the stunts and media shows. Do something substantial like addressing our state’s homeowners insurance crisis, or address climate change and save money by making Florida the solar energy utilization capital of the country, putting our “sunshine state” on the map as a “shining” example for the rest of the world for saving our planet for future generations.
–Tom Consbruck
This inhuman treatment is not us – it is not American. What is the Board of Health’s responsibility – how about the EPA. . Why are they silent ? Does this prison have running water, bathing facilities, properly prepared food, heating and cooling, protection from rain, exercise facilities, trained guards – not MAGA zealots. Are there courts hearing their cases. Are they allowed a trail by jury? Questions questions questions.
— Liz Pickering
ven the cruelly used name is an affront to human rights. While many agree with deportations, what about the constitutional right of due process? The logistics of concentration camp style migrant detention centers are nightmarish to start. Add costly challenges like transportation of the prisoners, then add the costs of food and medical care. Migrants are gleefully being rounded up and inhumanly imprisoned and deported, if that doesn’t affect our consciences, maybe the fact that it’s OUR tax dollars also being gleefully spent to build concentration camps
— Jeannine Flynn
It is a very poor idea in the the Everglades are already being ruined by sugar industry plus over development of Southern Florida and lack of public utilities to handle those larger Population growth.
— Tom R. Baldwin
The idea of “Alligator Alcatraz” is deeply troubling on multiple levels. First and foremost, it reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of immigration law: being undocumented in the United States is a civil offense, not a criminal one. Detaining people in a remote, prison-like facility for a civil infraction raises serious ethical and legal concerns. The location itself—isolated, ecologically sensitive, and symbolically hostile — only compounds the issue, evoking images of punishment rather than due process. Even more alarming is the lack of transparency surrounding the facility. Numerous lawmakers have reportedly been denied access to tour the site, raising red flags about oversight, accountability, and potential human rights violations. Adding to the controversy is the staggering cost: $450 million for a detention center in the middle of the Everglades is not only fiscally questionable but also suggests misplaced priorities in immigration policy. Instead of investing in community-based alternatives or improving the immigration court system, this project seems to prioritize spectacle and deterrence over justice and humanity.
— Rick Lievano
I do not think using the Everglades for ANYTHING is a good idea. It is a natural wonder and needs to be preserved. It is sacred land to some and a miracle for the rest of us. My concern is what happens to the human waste, the trash from feeding thousands of people. For the money being spent on these projects- I would think there would be a way to detect who is a criminal force and who just wants a better life – like my family did. I also wonder how it was seemingly built in secret and with whose money!
— Jackie Gillespie
Two reasons Alegator Alcatraz is a terrible idea. No.1. Is that it will harm a wildlife treasure. I joined a hike once through its huge flowering trees full of white birds,and to the edge of a clear lake kept flowing by alligators. This prison will pollute and harm it. No.2. Is that to my knowledge our elected representatives in the Fla. house and Senate were not first consented. Neither were the local people who live in communities nearby. Would our Governor have quickly had a jail built in Lake Eola or The Villages without consulting the residents of the area and their representatives? Not doing that is an affront to us citizens and taxpayers. In fact too many people are treating this horror as a joke. It’s not. It’s a monument to disrespect.
— Judy McCluney
Whilst I think the idea of a detention center is good. I am disappointed with how haphazardly this one was constructed. This facility was constructed start to finished in less than 14 days. I can’t even get a permit to build a privacy fence that quick. It’s a steel framed tent akin to a Vietnam era field hospital, in the middle of a swamp, in hurricane season. I even saw clips of flooding during a typical Florida thunderstorm. Again, I think having a detention center large enough to accommodate the large amount of illegal migrants is a necessary evil, however, it needs to be done properly. I’d bet good money this does not meet HVHZ building code, required in Monroe county, let alone standard FBC. DeSantis should be ashamed of how this happened, he touts Florida as the place where democracy can thrive yet turns around and build a facility with less safety standards than Stalin’s gulags.
— Michael Browning
I watched the little video you provided in this story. Anyone who has spent any time in South Florida will immediately think about the mosquitos and torrential downpours.. when the tents flood, even if a detainee said to themself “yeah, I’m afraid of the swamp, the gators, the snakes, but I don’t want to drown, I’ll take my chances” they’re locked in cages and can’t even save themselves.
— Donna Kearns
Alligator Alcatraz is DeSantis’ idea of a cute name for yet another source of shame to the reputation of Florida. First he diverts our officers of the law from their local work to aid the masked thugs of ICE. They racially profile people at work, school or home and without due process detain them under conditions described as torture in an inadequate facility on land confiscated without regard for lawful process or respect for Miccosukee rights. The racist and authoritarian playbook of this nightmare is stunning and unAmerican. Dangerous criminals, not immigrants with work permits or those seeking asylum in the courts, should be arrested and tried for their crimes, whether citizens or immigrants. The guilty belong in government run facilities subject to humane regulations. But DeSantis has accomplished his aim, ie to change the conversation from the Florida Hope scandal in which he is embroiled.
— Bonnie Ida
No, I do not want my tax dollars to be used to promote a political agenda or to destroy natural resources. We have enough of that already!
— Gary Bolognese
A definite NO!
Alligator Alcatraz is a totally inhumane facility that indulges Trump’s racist views of Latinos. Trump erroneously proports all illegal Latino immigrants as having strong affiliations with drug cartels and a penchant for committing violent crimes of rape and murder, despite factual evidence to the contrary from DOJ research. Their only actual crime was crossing the border illegally in search of a safer, better life. Concentration camps, like Hitler’s, would be Trump’s preference, but even he realizes most Americans would find that unacceptable. Alligator Alcatraz provides an equally, inhospitable, inhumane facility where potential escape is perilous, satiating Trump’s propensity for cruelty.
Equally unimportant to both Trump and DeSantis are the cultural ties Alligator Alcatraz environs has to the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes, another segment of humanity neither one respects or cares about.
— Gregory W. Hewitt
President Trump’s big beautiful budget bill, has been approved by the legislature and signed into law by the President. Two segments of this bill should be noted, and that is $450 billion for new detention facilities and $30 billion for new ICE agents. Proceeds of this bill, will be used to build the much needed Alligator Alcatraz detention center. Even though the left caused this problem, they are protesting these expenditures . Had President Biden done his job and not had an open door policy, the aforementioned expenses would not be necessary. It’s now up to ICE to locate the flood of migrants and detain them for deportation. These migrants entered the country illegally. It’s inconceivable that our tax dollars are being utilized for them to receive housing, food, health care, schooling. and legal expenses. These funds could have been better utilized to improve the quality of life for those American citizens , that lack the government assistance mentioned above.
— Ted Hesser
The plan is a bad idea. There is risk to the glades environment from contamination such as leaked sewerage as well as air pollution from vehicles and ultimately air craft accessing the site.
The facility is being built with state of Florida money and using Florida supplies such as the tents. The supplies may be needed to respond to a hurricane strike.
There appears to be no money in the recently passed federal budget to reimburse Florida for the expense. Also the FEMA budget has been reduced and President Trump has suggested that states should pay for the cost of emergency response.
Governor DeSantis has plans to construct several more retention facilities “North FL. ‘Alcatraz” on the way”. This is spending more Florida funds in his attempt to get back into Trump’s good graces.
— James Beasom
I have an idea for an adjoining site in the Everglades: “Python Paradise”– Robert “Bob” Socks
Contact Torres at jtorres@floridatoday.com. You can follow him on X @johnalbertorres
Multimedia editor Rob Landers contributed to this report.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Question of the Week: Should Gov. DeSantis have to explain why he vetoed certain items?
Reporting by John A. Torres, Florida Today / Florida Today
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