A.G. Gancarski
Gov. Ron DeSantis visited familiar themes in remarks Tuesday in front of the American Legion Boys State program, and among them was the flexibility created by the line-item budget veto.
“You guys are doing this government in terms of crafting your own. I would just say that when you’re looking at different authorities to give the executive, giving a line-item veto is something that I would recommend,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis, who has vetoed more money out of budgets than any previous Governor, contended the line-item veto is central to good government and reining in the free-spending ways of legislatures.
The Governor enthused about the flexibility afforded him by the line-item, saying that “there’s individual line items that you can cancel out” because of it.
This year, he vetoed $3.1 billion in spending, leaving $109.9 billion in place. He’d referred to a previous year’s vetoes, meanwhile, as the equivalent of the Game of Thrones “Red Wedding” bloodbath. It was clear Tuesday he values that flexibility as a talking point as much as a governance tool.
Many such individual line items were cut in this year’s $3.1 billion veto list, including a billion-dollar fund intended as a hedge against inflation, $645 million for a new prison and $195 million for a new prison hospital.
DeSantis cut $65 million for construction of new courthouses, $35 million for a Tampa Bay Rays training facility, $30 million for the University of Florida’s new music building, $20 million for the Moffitt Pasco County Life Science Park and $20 million to buy new state airplanes.
“It makes it harder for the Legislature to do pork-barrel spending,” DeSantis continued. “Because if they’re doing stuff that’s not good for taxpayers, it lands on my desk, I can X that out and still sign the entire budget.”
This year, the Legislature “spent a little more than I thought was appropriate,” and so the administration “shattered” its own veto record in the new budget, DeSantis claimed.
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Gray Rohrer of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
2 comments
Tom
June 22, 2022 at 7:02 am
True leader of men, America’s Gov.
Stay true to yourself. He’s a profile in courage.
Willing to stand up to Corp media elites and leftists.
Tom
June 22, 2022 at 7:55 am
True leader of men, America’s Gov.
stays true to self.
By example “Do the right thing” and everything else takes place afterwards. Profile in courage, and doing what’s right! His willingness to be “Veto” Corleone demonstrates doing the right thing.
1.$35 million vetoed for Rays baseball stadium.
2. Veto of pet project Repub. Senate President, Lake O. Standing up to political shenanigans. Protecting the environment.
JFK was a Navy man, as is America’s Gov.
profile in courage!
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