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Here are the Tampa Bay area programs DeSantis just vetoed
DeSantis axed $9 million from Tampa Bay area projects. Hereâs a list of what got cut.
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Updated 49 minutes ago
TALLAHASSEE â Local governments were largely spared from vetoes made by Gov. Ron DeSantis as a part of the stateâs $100 billion budget.
But some Tampa Bay area programs were among the unlucky few to have their funding stripped by Floridaâs chief executive. DeSantis announced Wednesday that he had vetoed nearly $9 million in Tampa Bay-area projects â a sum that reflected the small overall number of budget vetoes. In Florida, the state Legislature crafts the annual budget, but the governor has the power to veto individual line items.
AP
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks Tuesday, March 2, 2021, during his State of the State address at the Capitol in Tallahassee.
Several items in the budget did not make it past Gov. Ron DeSantis desk, including $1.5 million in funding for the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed the state s $101.5 billion budget for fiscal year 2021-2022.
According to a release from the governor s office, the budget includes $169 million in tax relief.
He also vetoed more than $1.5 billion in total spending, along with $1.35 billion of federal funds received under the American Rescue Plan Act.
Several items that were earmarked for funding across the greater Tampa Bay region, however, did not make it past the governor s desk.
Which Tampa Bay projects will survive a Ron DeSantis veto?
At least $245 million in local projects have been approved by the Legislature. Their fate lies with DeSantis.
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Aerial photo of the construction site of the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis and Wellness Center. Courtesy of the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis and Wellness Center [ [ Sarah Vande Berg Tennis and Wellness Center ] ]
Updated May 10
TALLAHASSEE â When ZooTampa at Lowry Park had a $500,000 budget request denied by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year, executives were not surprised.
Just a few months into the coronavirus outbreak, Floridaâs financial picture looked grim. In the face of a devastating pandemic, investing six figures on the zooâs panther habitat was not at the top of DeSantisâ priority list. He vetoed the zooâs project â along with more than $1 billion in total budget vetoes.
Indian Shores and Indian Rocks Beach say it is past time for a project planned in 2003 to be completed â or at least be given higher priority.
Indian Shores Mayor Patrick Soranno supported by Indian Rocks Beach Mayor Joanne âCookieâ Kennedy appealed to members of Forward Pinellas during an April 14 discussion on the draft multimodal priorities.
Chelsea Favero, planning manager, said Forward Pinellas reviewed and adopted the multimodal priority list each year. Projects are listed in two-tiers, funded and unfunded and projects remain on the list until completed, she said.
However, the draft presented for review contained three unfinished projects that were removed from the list. Two were placeholders for future work on U.S. Alternate 19 and one was an aerial transit feasibility study now underway through Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority.