Jesse Scheckner
Gov. Ron DeSantis cut $567 million from the coming state budget. Two of the earmarks axed were for projects at the College of the Florida Keys.
That includes $3.5 million lawmakers agreed to apportion for an overhaul of the school’s aged air conditioning system and $2.2 million to expand programs at a new Marine and Maritime Professional Institute.
Islamorada Republican Rep. Jim Mooney, who requested the funds through appropriation requests with Doral Republican Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, called the vetoes “very disappointing,” but by no means out of line.
“If I’ve learned one thing in my fifth year as a lawmaker, it’s that there’s no guarantee when it comes to appropriations,” he said.
“I try to tell my constituents that if you ask for an appropriation, even if you’re a college, you’re asking for icing on the cake. You should not run your programs based on appropriations. With that said, I’m surprised the college took such a whooping. But we’ll figure it out. It’s what we do best.”
The $3.5 million set-aside — half what Mooney and Rodriguez sought in their twin appropriation requests — was to pay for modernizing and expanding the chiller system (cooling and HVAC) at the Key West campus to improve capacity, reliability, and energy efficiency. Mooney said the current system is six decades old.
The $2.2 million would have gone toward creating a new associate degree course in the maritime profession, complete with a fleet of additional certifications, to complement existing associate and baccalaureate programs.
Rodriguez’s request, which noted a local match of $750,000, said the funds would help increase maritime professions programming at the college by 82%, or roughly 300 students per year who will gain training for jobs “critical to the state’s workforce and economic development” that pay “higher than average wages.”
Most of the funds, $1.85 million, would have been allocated toward acquiring vessels, aquaculture supplies, and equipment. Another $203,000 would have paid for renovating a welding lab’s ventilation system, while $150,000 would have covered the salary of one additional faculty member.
The College of the Florida Keys serves some 1,500 students, hosts more than 100 staff members and welcomes about 200 daily visitors, including those accessing the college’s library, clinic, aquatic center and public charter school, the appropriation requests say.
Mooney noted that while the college took a hit this year, it received $4 million from the state a few years back for its charter school.
