Northeast Florida scores big in 2022 budget, but will the local projects survive the veto pen?

Florida lawmakers passed a record $112 billion budget that includes a lot of money for local projects here in Duval County and Northeast Florida, but those local projects have a lot of competition they’ll have to beat out if they hope to escape the governor’s veto pen this year.

The Governor hasn’t been shy about using the line-item veto in years past.

Last year he vetoed $1.5 billion from the Legislature’s proposed budget.

While the vast majority of that was related to COVID-19 relief dollars, roughly $157 million in local projects were slashed.

This year it could be even more.

Second Mile Ministries on Jacksonville’s Eastside was ecstatic to get a $100,000 allocation in the state budget for its As We Gather program, which helps seniors fight social isolation while teaching them how to use technology.

“And with that funding, we’ll be able to expand the program to reach more neighborhoods and be able to make it permanent so that we can make that impact on an ongoing basis for the seniors in our communities,” said Marc Nettleton with Second Mile Ministries.

The $100K is relatively small compared to allocations for other local projects in the region.

There’s $80 million for a new trauma center at UF Health, $9 million for resurfacing County Road 121 in Nassau, and $5.1 million for a hurricane shelter project in the town of Hilliard - just to name a few.

“I’ve been doing this a long time and there’s never been anything close to this,” said Kurt Wenner, Vice President of Florida TaxWatch.

Wenner said the number of local projects statewide this year is staggering.

He estimates there are more than 1,200 totaling over $2.5 billion.

Compare that to last year’s roughly 800 projects totaling $617 million prior to vetoes.

“I think that the member projects in this budget almost total the total for the last five years,” said Wenner.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has already indicated there’s plenty of fat to trim off the proposed $112 billion budget.

“I respect when the Legislature makes these decisions. At the same time, don’t get carried away with any irrational exuberance about just because our fiscal situation is so strong,” said DeSantis.

And as for organizations like Second Mile Ministries, well they’ve just got to hope their project is one of the lucky ones.

“They matter, they’re valuable people, they’re members of our community that sometimes get forgotten and we want to make sure they continue being provided this service,” said Nettleton.

Once the legislature officially transmits the budget to the governor, he’ll have 14days to decide what stays and what goes.

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