COVID-19 forces DeSantis to slash $22 million in state funding from Manatee projects
Funding has been denied for several Manatee County projects as part of a $1 billion adjustment to Florida’s budget due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced sweeping cuts Monday, reducing the state budget to $92.2 billion. Those changes came at the cost of more than $22 million in state funding for local projects.
“I think we all have to realize that none of us will get everything we wanted,” DeSantis said during a news conference at the Capitol.
In Manatee, the State College of Florida saw the biggest financial impact from DeSantis’ budget cuts. The governor announced that the budget no longer includes $5 million toward the future Parrish campus or $3.8 million for the college’s Nursing Center of Excellence.
The city of Holmes Beach will also miss out on $2 million that would have been spent on flooding improvements and reducing stormwater runoff on Anna Maria Island.
According to the full veto list, DeSantis also removed funding for replacing the Green Bridge Fishing Pier in Palmetto, a new training tower for the Cedar Hammock Fire Department, a new Centerstone Psychiatric Residency and funding for STEM education at Mote Marine.
The list of local projects that were denied funding includes:
- State College of Florida, Parrish Phase 1 — $5 million
- State College of Florida, Nursing Center of Excellence — $3.8 million
- Holmes Beach Flood Prevention — $2 million
- Mote Marine Laboratory STEM Education — $1.5 million
Manatee Technical College Aviation Program — $1.3 million
- New College of Florida Master in Data Science $1.2 million
- Centerstone Psychiatric Residency — $1 million
- Cedar Hammock Training Tower — $1 million
- Manatee County Water Quality Improvements with Native Oysters — $950,000
- Green Bridge Fishing Pier Replacement — $900,000
- Ringling College Cross College Alliance — $897,000
Manatee Schools STEM Career Pathways Pilot — $550,000
- Pirate City Sports Nutrition Center and Maintenance Buildings —$500,000
- Manatee Educational Television — $410,000
- Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee Sustainable Space Garden — $300,000
- New College Career and Internship Program — $275,000
- Manatee YDASH Program — $245,000
- Longboat Key Sea Level Rise and Storm Flooding Assessment — $142,000
- North River Fire Department Emergency Response Vessel — $80,000
Last week, Manatee County announced how the pandemic will affect its own budget, which stands to shrink by 4 percent down to $710.7 million — $30 million less than last year.
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 3:50 PM.
