Gov. DeSantis gives $5.5M to Hamilton County for infrastructure, manufacturing project

Ron DeSantis. Image via AP.

Hamilton County, Florida’s sixth-smallest county with 14,004 residents as of the 2020 census, will receive $5.5 million for infrastructure improvements related to a project to bring a manufacturing outfit and as many as 1,000 jobs, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday.

The money was given by DeSantis through his Job Growth Grant Fund, a pot the Governor can use to fund infrastructure and job training projects throughout the state. It received $75 million in the current budget, making the award about 7% of its total funding for a county containing 0.6% of the state’s population.

DeSantis said funding for projects in rural areas goes farther than in more populated areas.

“We have counties in our state, like Miami-Dade (County) is almost three million people … and they have a lot of needs but when I bring something it’s kind of like throwing a pebble in a pond,” DeSantis said. “But when you come to some of the rural areas, this makes a huge difference.”

During the event, DeSantis said he will approve another Hamilton County project when he signs the state budget, sparing $880,000 for a fire station from his veto. There isn’t any money in the budget for a Hamilton County fire station, but there is $850,000 for a Hamilton County Arena & Fairgrounds roof.

Rep. Chuck Brannan, a Macclenny Republican whose district covers Hamilton County, originally requested $880,000 for the project.

DeSantis hasn’t formally received the budget (HB 5001) from the Legislature yet and can’t act on it until he does.

DeSantis ran through a series of national and Florida-related political topics, including boasting of Florida’s largest surplus in history — aided by billions in federal COVID-19 stimulus money — that has been buttressed by the state’s booming economy as it rebounds from the pandemic swoon.

“I usually don’t come empty-handed,” DeSantis said of his trip to Hamilton County. “DeSanta Claus is coming to town.”

Department of Economic Opportunity Secretary Dane Eagle, whose agency vets the Job Growth Grant Fund applications and projects, noted Florida has more jobs than before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. But DeSantis also bashed President Joe Biden’s handling of the national economy, which has seen rampant inflation along with strong job growth, and warned that interest rate increases could lead to a recession, making Florida’s surplus all the more necessary.

“(The federal government) printed so much money and because they did that I think you’re going to see the (Federal Reserve) raise interest rates a bunch of times and it could lead to a recession,” DeSantis said. “Some of the wounds we see with our country are self-inflicted.”