Veto list: Gov. DeSantis kills pilot program that would have installed air conditioners at Miami-Dade prisons

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It seemed a noble, compassionate pursuit: a pilot program to install small air conditioning units in the dorms of three Miami-Dade correctional facilities as a test for a broader initiative across the state.

Senate and House lawmakers agreed, earmarking $300,000 to see the program through, the exact sum Doral Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez and Islamorada Rep. Jim Mooney sought in twin appropriation requests.

Then came Gov. Ron DeSantis’ veto pen.

On Monday, he eliminated all state funding for the program in the upcoming state budget as part of a $567 million reduction.

Orlando-based prison rights advocate Connie Edson, who has spent half a decade trying to deliver inmates some relief from the heat and spearheaded the effort to fund and roll out the program, is at a loss for why.

“I’m floored. I can’t believe he turned it down,” she told Florida Politics. “We’re talking about what’s humane and what’s inhumane, and this is the most inhumane thing ever.”

Edson said that in online forums she frequents for people with family members behind bars, she hears the same concerns all the time.

“They’re roasting in there,” she said. “They’re suffocating. And there’s no reason for it.”

Of the more than 130 correctional facilities operated by the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC), only 25% have air conditioning.

Those dismal conditions are the subject of a class-action lawsuit. FDC officials attempted, but failed, to have it dismissed in late May. The complaint contends that forcing inmates to endure scorching temperatures at Dade Correctional Institution, the result of a lack of air conditioning and “insufficient ventilation systems,” violates 8th Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs — three incarcerated individuals who are on medication for conditions experts say make them more susceptible to heat-related maladies — alleged that at least four inmates have died from heat-related causes in Miami-Dade since 2021.

Dade Correctional, along with Everglades Correctional Institution and Homestead Correctional Institution, were to have received the air conditioners through the now-canceled $300,000 set-aside.

The money would have gone to Horizon Communities Corp., a faith-based nonprofit whose goal is to “empower incarcerated individuals with the skills, support, and mindset crucial for successful reintegration into society.

In turn, Horizon would have outfitted the dorm rooms where it offers its programming with mini split air conditioners, ductless, wall-mounted HVAC systems that provide cooling and/or heating without using ductwork.

The program would have benefited more than 1,000 people, including inmates, Horizon volunteers, and staff, according to Rodriguez’s funding request.

The plan was built on efforts that began with a successful but short-lived pilot program, which Edson initiated in 2022 with Gainesville Democratic Rep. Yvonne Hinson at Lowell Correctional Institution, a women’s prison in Marion County.

That year, Edson tested swamp coolers, also known as evaporative coolers, which reduce air temperatures by evaporating water. They proved somewhat effective, but weren’t especially well-received, Edson said, in large part because they made the already-dense air in the prison even more humid.

They were also quite noisy, FDC Secretary Ricky Dixon told members of a Senate committee in October 2023. Edson told the panel at the time that while the swamp coolers were not the solution to Florida’s prison heat problem, “a solution is out there (and) with your funding, we can find the solution.”

Edson soon found an alternative. She met the owner of an air conditioning company, who, after hearing about her work, donated a mini-split unit. She got approval from FDC to install it in a room at Lowell used for the Women Offering Obedience and Friendship (WOOF) program, where inmates train service dogs for veterans.

FDC wouldn’t pay to install the unit. So, Julie Drexel, WOOF’s program manager, covered the $700 cost.

“And boom, they had air conditioning,” Edson said.

Confident she’d found the right solution, Edson lobbied lawmakers to sponsor legislation to effectuate a broader pilot program last year. She was unsuccessful, but undeterred.

She changed tack and joined forces with Horizon Executive Director Nathan Schaidt to seek a local appropriation in Miami-Dade instead.

Horizon depends on volunteers, many of whom are older than 60, the Florida Phoenix reported. Shaidt said this in April. When Summer arrives with temperatures frequently exceeding 100 degrees, he said, “A lot of our volunteers, they have to bow out. They can’t go and sit for two hours in that heat trying to teach these classes.”

Edson contacted Rodriguez and Mooney, who quickly got onboard with the idea and submitted requests in mid-February. While numerous impasses led to protracted budget talks between the two chambers this year, Senate and House lawmakers appeared to have little trouble seeing the proposal’s merits.

Nor should they have, Edson said.

“Those people in prison, even though they’re incarcerated, they are still constituents,” she said. And this is something that’s innovative, that could really turn Florida around. This was a major breakthrough.”