Ron DeSantis condemns ‘massive amounts of waste’ in ‘blue state bailout’ bill
Ron DeSantis. Image via Colin Hackley.

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Florida didn't get its share, the Governor claims.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill on Wednesday, and Florida’s Republican Governor was not happy.

Gov. Ron DeSantis used a discussion of “COVID mortality” as a jump off point to deride states that “locked down hard” when Florida did not.

The Governor, who expressed disquiet about the bill before it passed, was no more complimentary about the “stimulus bill” in comments Wednesday in Sumterville.

“We have on this stimulus bill, this thing has massive amounts of waste in it. For Florida, we are getting penalized in the stimulus when they’re sending money to the states,” DeSantis said, bemoaning the “fundamentally unfair” decision to tie aid to demonstrated need in the jobless rolls.

“They have higher unemployment because they’re not letting their people work,” DeSantis added. “I think it’s fundamentally unfair that you basically penalize Florida for doing a better job. That’s what you’re seeing in that bill. And I just say if I was in Congress, there’s no way you could support penalizing your own state and sending the money to New York, California, Illinois.”

“We think we’re going to get about $2 billion dollars less as a result of the way they’re doing it,” DeSantis said.  “It really does function as a bailout for blue states, poorly managed states. And if you manage states better, like Florida, then you get penalized. That’s fundamentally unfair.”

The Governor continues to offer unsolicited hot takes about the bill during press conferences.

“This definitely harms Florida. Florida’s not being treated well in this bill,” DeSantis said Tuesday at a Lehigh Acres CVS.

“You don’t have a lot of scrutiny up in Washington, because you basically have, it’s effectively state run media up there, but it’s bad juju what’s going on up there,” the Governor said, referring to Washington lawmaking. 

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


7 comments

  • Frankie M.

    March 10, 2021 at 8:21 pm

    Crimea river Ronnie. If you don’t want it send it back just like Ricky. Don’t just talk the talk.

  • Sonja Fitch

    March 11, 2021 at 6:03 am

    Lol lol who is more pathetic? Nazi Rick? Duffus Desantis? Close tie for two white men that pride themselves on killing and abusing Americans. Vote Democrat up and down ballot for the elections in 2022.

    • Shelly

      March 15, 2021 at 10:25 am

      I for sure won’t be one to vote for DeSantis!!

  • Charlotte Greenbarg

    March 11, 2021 at 8:30 am

    Aha, the far left frothers spew again. They’d be the first to cry foul if Socialists/Communists took over because it wasn’t what they were promised! And if you Google Sonja Fitch, you’ll see her vulgar signs on her fence, signs the neighborhood has consistently railed against because children see it. But Fitch couldn’t care less about children. She only cares about revolution.

  • PeterH

    March 11, 2021 at 10:32 am

    Florida is far from self supporting. Actually after Lindsey Graham’s South Carolina and North Dakota …… Florida is the third largest recipient of Federal bail out dollars. This is not new ….. according to conservative Forbes Magazine year after year Florida is bailed out by Blue State tax payers.

    • Joe

      March 12, 2021 at 6:19 am

      Not true. Forbes is a left leaning activist publication. Citing them is disingenuous.

  • PeterH

    March 12, 2021 at 12:44 pm

    Let’s see if you will believe the New York Times, The Federalist, The Atlantic, PEW and financial analyst at WalletHub ….all agree with me and not YOU.

    From the Federalist:
    Democrats are correct on this fact. The blue states did pay more per capita in federal taxes than the red did. The $12,648 per capita taxation there is 118 percent of the national average. The purple states fell in between the two, slightly below the national average.

    Don’t call someone disingenuous unless you have FACTS TO PROVE OTHERWISE.

    FLORIDA is the number three TAKER STATE in the USA. Florida has no right to complain how the federal government divides stimulus money on need……when the State is DEPENDENT on its survival in the charity from Blue States.

Comments are closed.


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