Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis introduced plans Tuesday to shore up his state’s emergency administration system, in addition to give $1,000 bonus checks to the state’s cadre of first responders beneath a spending proposal to disburse some $10 billion Florida is anticipated to reap beneath the newest federal COVID-19 aid invoice.
Throughout a Capitol press convention, DeSantis introduced a laundry record of spending priorities totaling about $4.1 billion — a giant slice of the roughly $10 billion Florida is anticipated to get from the stimulus bundle President Joe Biden signed final week.
State lawmakers will get to determine whether or not to implement the governor’s suggestions as a part of the funds they have to approve earlier than they adjourn in late April. With the extra spending, the governor is now asking lawmakers to think about funding practically $100 billion in packages — up from the $96.6 billion funds he unveiled in January.
At the same time as he listed his spending priorities, DeSantis bemoaned how the Biden administration can be distributing $1.9 trillion in aid cash to states and native governments within the coming weeks and months. The federal authorities is distributing cash not by inhabitants however primarily based on the variety of unemployed residents — a technique that DeSantis contends penalizes states like his whose economies are recovering extra shortly than different large states.
“We’re getting the quick finish of the stick — make no mistake about it,” DeSantis mentioned. “However we’ll make one of the best of what we’ve, and I feel we’ll be capable to get quite a bit accomplished for the folks of Florida.”
The governor mentioned he needs to make use of $1 billion to ascertain an Emergency Administration Response Fund. The state’s emergency administration system, extra accustomed to dealing with hurricanes and different emergencies, has been within the forefront in responding to the coronavirus outbreak, which plunged the state right into a public well being disaster a few 12 months in the past.
One other $1 billion would go towards the state’s resiliency marketing campaign towards rising sea ranges.
The Republican governor’s plan additionally contains practically $260 million to assist seaports, which have been hit exhausting by the coronavirus pandemic that crippled the cruise business and hampered delivery visitors. And he would use about $73 billion of that cash to assist modernize the state’s CONNECT system, the much-maligned platform Floridians use to get unemployment advantages.
Greater than $208 million of the cash would go on to first responders within the type of one-time direct funds.
“We all know the pandemic put lots of pressure on our first responders — EMTs, sworn regulation enforcement, firefighters — so we imagine we should always acknowledge their sacrifice,” the governor mentioned.
As is usually the case, the governor doesn’t at all times get precisely what he needs — and lawmakers will little question be scrutinizing the extra funds outlays within the weeks to return.
Home Speaker Chris Sprowls mentioned by way of a spokeswoman that he appears ahead to working with DeSantis and Senate President Wilton Simpson on delivering a balanced funds.
“The speaker has expressed a robust want to behave on lots of the objects the Governor outlined within the letter despatched immediately, together with creating an emergency preparedness fund to make sure that Florida is at all times prepared and investments in flooding resilience and our workforce,” mentioned the spokeswoman, Jenna Sarkissian.
DeSantis, criticized by some in his personal social gathering about how he has budgeted the usage of earlier pandemic cash, mentioned he would let the state Legislature determine methods to spend the remaining $6 billion of the federal aid cash. He steered that a few of that cash could possibly be put in reserves.
Florida may obtain about $17 billion as half the federal pandemic aid bundle, with $7 billion going to cities and different native governments.
A key Democrat welcomed some parts in it — like direct funds to first responders.
“It feels like a few of these are very worthy, however I might wish to see extra element,” mentioned Rep. Evan Jenne, the Democratic co-leader within the Florida Home.
“There’s nonetheless a protracted budgetary course of for all of this to undergo, and finally it should go by way of a complete bunch of legislative palms,” Jenne mentioned.