Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed at least $6.4 million in budget projects sought by members of the Big Bend’s legislative delegation.
On June 29, he struck funding for a mix of local infrastructure, public safety initiatives and community programs across 12 North Florida counties represented by House Democrats Gallop Franklin and Allison Tant of Tallahassee, and state Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe. The vetoes included about $1.9 million tied directly to Leon County,
In Leon County, projects axed included $650,000 for a Capitol Complex “drones as first responders” program and $500,000 for storm hardening to bolster emergency readiness.
The governor also cut $500,000 for a tutoring-to-workforce pipeline initiative and $250,000 for the Joseph House reentry program, a nonprofit that helps people who get out of prison and want to reintegrate into society.
Florida’s Big Bend does not escape DeSantis veto pen
Across the rural Big Bend, in the ten counties represented by Shoaf, Tant and Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, vetoes totaled roughly $3.5 million and affected a range of infrastructure and community projects.
The largest cuts included $850,000 for Florida State University’s Wakulla Springs research project and $750,000 for a Taylor County animal shelter.
Water and wastewater projects also were heavily affected, including $600,000 for Suwannee County system upgrades, $350,000 for water meter replacements in Bristol, and $300,000 for improvements tied to the Talquin utility system.
Several smaller projects were also vetoed, such as $25,000 for a senior food security initiative and $15,000 for a firearm-detection pilot program in Franklin County.
“Some of the stuff wasn’t necessarily bad,” DeSantis said upon signing the $117.6 billion state budget. “It’s just (that) I set a target to be underneath current year budget, so we had to get to that level, and some of the things were plausible, but you just have to make decisions.”
The governor said he uses line-item budget vetoes to grow reserves and reduce state debt.
He added that over his eight years in office, he now has vetoed $10.6 billion from state budgets, compared to a combined $5.6 billion by former Florida governors Jeb Bush, Charlie Crist and Rick Scott, now a U.S. senator.
What bacon was brought home?
Plenty of local projects escaped DeSantis’ veto pen. In a social media post, Rep. Allison Tant, D-Tallahassee, shared her “gratitude to Gov. DeSantis for approving these budget projects” that included $24.7 million for House District 9. Here’s a breakdown.
LEON COUNTY
JEFFERSON COUNTY
MADISON COUNTY
James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on X: @CallTallahassee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: DeSantis cuts millions from budget that would have gone to Big Bend
Reporting by James Call, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By James Call, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida | USA TODAY Network
