‘Nothing crazy about it’: House workgroup begins pushback on water project vetoes

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 1/4/23-Rep. Michelle Salzman, R-Pensacola, during the House Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee, Wednesday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

The House is continuing to assert independence regarding Gov. Ron DeSantis’ line-item vetoes from last year, with one group assembled taking a hard look at funds slashed from the budget for various water projects. The question as meetings begin is, how far will lawmakers go to undo DeSantis’ red pen.

The Combined Workgroup on Vetoed Water Programs Budget Issues met with an eye toward overturning vetoes on some or all of the 162 projects totaling more than $208 million that were cut from the legislative budget last Summer.

Since the House budget bill was approved, it’s up to the House to do this work.

Rep. Michelle Salzman is overseeing the water programs group and said the goal was to “recommend a list of issues for consideration by the full House” over the next two weeks, with a discussion to set things off on Tuesday through three meetings.

Salzman urged a deliberative look at potential veto reversals, about which she said there was “nothing crazy about it” and “just part of our constitutional duty.”

“We’re not just going to grab a few line items that our buddies said were cool,” the Panhandle Republican Chair said.

She called on members Jon Albert, Robin Bartleman, Yvette Benarroch and Meg Weinberger from the Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee, and Dean Black, Bill Conerly, Debbie Mayfield, Jim Mooney and Debra Tendrich from the Natural Resources and Disasters Subcommittee, to each come up with five items on the vetoed items list for reconsideration.

“We don’t have a quota. … It’s our job as a work group to consider if we have any items for reinstatement,” Salzman said of the “member-driven” process.

Committee members had their say about where the panel might go.

Black urged panelists to “talk to our constituents and ensure they have a voice in this process,” asserting a “need to stay ahead of growth.”

Bartleman urged a look at matching funds as well as vetoed projects in South Florida, while Mooney said “last phase” projects might merit priority, specifically on “something as critical as septic-to-sewer conversion.”

“There are a lot of projects we spend millions, sometimes a billion dollars, and then we’re just at the final stretch and we’re like, can you just give us, you know, half a million or whatever. And then we don’t get it, and the communities are just dried up. They’re like, ‘We’ve given all that we can,’ and so it just sits there waiting on that last mile,” Salzman noted.

Mayfield, who has the most legislative tenure of anyone on the panel, likewise spoke to the need to have “skin in the game” from locals seeking funds.

Salzman said this “checks and balances” process would winnow down projects, noting that some would qualify for grants also and “could potentially get money sometime in the next few years.”