Two budget priorities for Gov. Ron DeSantis, a job training and infrastructure program and the Florida State Guard, were left unfunded by the House in the initial round of spending talks Tuesday.
In its first offer to the Senate in the transportation and economic development portion of the spending plan, the House didn't fund the Job Growth Grant Fund, which the governor uses for infrastructure and workforce training projects. The Senate includes $50 million for the fund.
The fund in recent years has been used on an Interstate 75 interchange project expected to help the Buc-ee’s convenience store chain with a planned location north of Ocala, and to construct a road around Miami Freedom Park, a massive mixed-use development that includes a 25,000-seat soccer stadium for Inter Miami.
The House also didn’t include the more than $25 million the Senate has proposed for the Florida State Guard. The funding includes $15.2 million for aviation operations and $1.7 million for maritime operations.
House Transportation & Economic Development Budget Subcommittee Chairman Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, said he’s waiting for an inspector general’s report on the Guard.
“Once we get that we’ll be able to make the right decision on it,” Shoaf told reporters.
The Florida State Guard was initially set up during World War II to replace Florida National Guard members who were deployed abroad. It went inactive in 1947. DeSantis restored it in 2022 to help the Florida National Guard during emergencies.
But questions have been raised by former Florida State Guard members over its spending and practices, ranging from the private use by leadership of state-purchased planes to millions of unnecessary equipment purchases.
The House offer does maintain $40 million in funding for ongoing upgrades at Camp Blanding, a joint training center near Starke used by the Florida National Guard and Florida State Guard, while the Senate plan includes $10 million.
The two chambers have agreed to $20 million to cover $5,000 bonuses for law enforcement officer recruitment.
But the sides remain apart on affordable housing programs.
The House initially had $50 million for the Hometown Heroes program, which provides downpayment assistance to first responders, teachers, veterans and nurses who are first-time home buyers, but didn’t include funding for it in the latest offer. The Senate set aside $75 million in its spending plan.
For the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program, which provides grants to local governments for affordable housing, the House includes $165.7 million, about $20 million short of what the Senate prefers. The Senate also wants $150 million for the State Apartment Incentive Loan program, which provides low-interest loans to affordable housing developers, and $5 million for rural workforce housing, but the House doesn’t fund either program.