Gabrielle Russon
Some Florida lawmakers expressed their desires to save arts organizations that might shut their doors without an influx of state dollars, while others worried about their return on investment.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ $32 million line-item vetoes stripped away funding for local theater groups, arts festivals, museums and more, sparking outrage in Florida last year.
Now, a House work group is one of several convening to review line-item vetoes from the 2024-25 budget DeSantis signed last year. The Republican-controlled Legislature has resisted the Governor following a clash over immigration policies.
In a whirlwind 20-minute meeting on Tuesday, the House Combined Workgroup on Vetoed Libraries, Cultural and Historical Preservation Budget Issues did not make any decisions or give firm direction on what, if anything, could be funded.
Rep. Susan Plasencia, a Republican from Orlando chairing the group, said they have two more meetings to finish reviewing the vetoes by Feb. 19.
“This is an important part of our system of checks and balances,” she said as she emphasized reinstating the money is a member-driven process, and the panel debated how they should prioritize to decide whether state funding gets reinstated and what loses out.
“I think we need to look at our cost-benefit, I hate to say, return on investment, but what are we investing and what are we getting back for the citizens?” said Rep. Randy Maggard. “Are we using taxpayer money wisely?”
The Dade City Republican said he worried about money ending up in consultants’ pockets or being spent to redo a city hall, which he argued shouldn’t be paid by the state.
Meanwhile, Rep. Lindsay Cross warned that DeSantis’ funding cuts involving relatively small amounts of money could significantly impact arts organizations.
“A lot of these organizations are working on a pretty shoestring budget,” the St. Petersburg Democrat said. “Twenty thousand dollars from the state in lost funding could mean that a whole program has to go under.”
Rep. Darryl Campbell argued that the state needs to prioritize history, especially Black history, to teach the next generation.
“It’s not just about people coming in and learning the history, but it’s also about our future,” the Democrat from Fort Lauderdale said.
