Jesse Scheckner
It wasn’t the biggest line-item veto Gov. Ron DeSantis made in the coming budget, but what the comparatively little money could have done for its beneficiaries would have gone a long way.
DeSantis nixed a more than $1.35 million set-aside for Sunrise Community, a Homestead nonprofit that serves individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The funds would have been used to renovate the center’s nearly 50-year-old kitchen with new, high-efficiency appliances and fixtures, along with additional cabinets and counter space.
That would have been a boon for those working there and the recipients of more than 300 specialized and 216 snacks per day, said Islamorada Republican Rep. Jim Mooney.
Mooney and Doral Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez initially sought $1.47 million in companion appropriation requests. Lawmakers opted to earmark approximately $120,000 less for the project during protracted budget negotiations.
Another $1.47 million in “other” funds were also committed to the project before February, the requests said.
In a brief phone call, Mooney vowed to get Sunrise a new kitchen “come hell or high water.”
“That facility does an amazing job for people — there but for the grace of God go I — who are born with disabilities (or) had accidents,” he said.
“It didn’t get funded. That’s OK. I’m going to talk to some big dogs, maybe Sysco, and get them a new kitchen. If I have to go up there and see the Mayor, I will.”
The Sunrise Community funding was among $567 million that DeSantis cut from the budget on Monday. Two other earmarks were axed, totaling $5.7 million for projects at the College of the Florida Keys.
He also vetoed a $975,000 appropriation that Mooney and Rodriguez requested for the Keys AHEC Health Centers, which provides no-cost medical and low-cost dental care to school-age children in Monroe County.
A local match of $1 million was planned for the program, which received $355,000 in the state budget for the previous year.
