Politics

2023 Florida Legislature

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DeSantis vetoes more than $125 million in Tampa Bay area projects. Here's a list

WUSF | By Steve Newborn

Published June 15, 2023 at 7:34 PM EDT

Updated June 16, 2023 at 5:16 PM EDT

Artist's rendering of planned building — A rendering of the planned Nursing / STEM building on the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus. Funding for the project was vetoed by Gov. DeSantis

It included $20 million for an Academic STEM Nursing Facility at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee Campus, and $16 million for an expansion to Polk State College.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed the new state budget, which swelled this year to $117 billion. But he chopped funding for half a billion dollars in projects.

More than $510 million ended up on the wrong end of his veto pen, as the governor took an axe to some of the pet projects put forth by state lawmakers.

Here is a full list of DeSantis' vetoes:

Here’s a list of some of the projects that took a hit in the greater Tampa Bay area:

Tampa Bay Region

$1.5 million for Tampa Bay Watch water quality improvements

Hillsborough

$2.95 million for University of South Florida simulation modeling to reduce opioid overdose
$2.5 million for Tampa Water System Morris Bridge Continuity of Operations Center
$2.5 million for Tampa Bay Water Morris Bridge wellfield improvements

$1 million for Italian Club of Tampa - restoration and code compliance initiative

$500,000 for Florida Aquarium - reducing carbon emissions

$500,000 for The Florida Orchestra - Digital Concert Hall

$200,000 for Tampa Police Department license plate reader technology

$10,000 for Hillsborough Habitat for Humanity - Resilient Homes for Heroes

Pinellas

$1 million for Treasure Island Public Safety Complex

$965,000 for Pinellas County Urban League - Center for Trauma Recovery, Wellness, and Healing Justice

$500,000 for Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority electric vehicle charging infrastructure

$500,000 for Madeira Beach - Public Works and Fire Station facility

$482,000 for Ruth Eckerd Hall public safety and rapid response improvements

$180,000 for Operation PAR Largo Campus - residential flooding remedy

Pasco

$30.8 million for Kirkland Ranch land acquisition
$5 million for Moffitt Cancer Center Life Sciences Campus Road

$1.45 million for Pasco County Anclote River Park boat ramps and parking

$900,000 for Pasco County Fire mobile command vehicle

$250,000 for Dade City - athletic fields renovation

Sarasota/Manatee

$20 million for an Academic STEM Nursing Facility at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus

$4 million for Nathan Benderson Park secondary-post storm shelter and support facility in Sarasota

$4 million for Fruitville Road capacity improvement project - Sarasota

$1.5 million for Education Foundation of Sarasota County HUB facility

$1.4 million for City of Bradenton - Public Safety Operations Center

$1.1 million for Manatee County Area Transit - Route 99 operation enhancements
$1 million for Sarasota County - Alligator Creek aerial pipe crossing replacement project
$1 million for Sarasota County Midnight Pass reopening project
$800,000 for Sarasota Whitaker & Hudson Bayous water quality project

$750,000 for Shoreline Restoration and Hurricane Resilience for Shell Midden at Historic Spanish Point in Osprey

$600,000 for Sarasota Academy of the Arts - campus expansion project

$500,000 for Venice Fire Station #2 relocation project

$250,000 for Bradenton storm sewer outfall tide check valves

$250,000 for Sarasota Bobby Jones Nature Park, Phase I

Hernando

$966,000 for Hernando County central fueling facility

$162,500 for Brooksville stormwater master plan

Polk

$16 million for an expansion to Polk State College
$11 million for a student achievement center at Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland
$6 million for Sixth District Court Of Appeal New Courthouse construction in Lakeland
$5 million for Kathleen Road widening and extension in Lakeland
$2 million for Polk County Courthouse roof replacement

$500,000 for Bartow Public Safety facility

$500,000 for Polk Museum of Art expansion project

$250,000 for Fort Meade emergency shelter and agricultural center

Citrus

$700,000 for Too Far Water and Natural Resource Foundation - Tsala Apopka Chain of Lakes restoration project
$1.125 million for Inverness - West Inverness City Trail and Withlacoochee State Trail Connector

Highlands

$3.2 million for South Florida State College - multi-use driving range training facility

$500,000 for South Florida State College - swimming pool

Hardee

$200,000 for Hardee County Ministerial Association - Hardee Help Center