Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) promotes $389 million in funding for Florida water restoration projects.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Chauncey Goss. I know we've got some other dignitaries from the local community and I want
00:04to thank them for coming out. We got a great announcement today about what we're doing to
00:09continue to lead the way on conservation and water quality and restoration of important state
00:18treasures like the Everglades and the Indian River Lagoon and I want to thank everybody that's been
00:22involved in that. First, before we get into that, we were able to last Friday when we were up in
00:29Washington meet with Elon Musk and Doge. We had money that was given supposedly under Biden that
00:38had all these strings attached so they had the infrastructure bill, 330 million dollars, but then
00:44we had to monitor people's tailpipe emissions. I'm not doing that in Florida. We are not going to let
00:51them change our policies by putting the money there. So we rejected the money. The FDOT secretary
00:58sent a letter to them saying here, you know, it's not something we're going to use. Take it back and
01:03they didn't really know what to do. They didn't, they never took back the allocation. So and then
01:09we had another thing with massive amounts of money for these refugee stuff which goes to these NGOs
01:15and there's so much corruption in that, let me tell you. So that was over 500 million. So we went and
01:20we said, listen, you know, we wanted to reject this. Federal government under previous administration
01:26wouldn't take it and Elon's, oh no, we'll do it. And so they literally got on the phone with treasury,
01:31worked and revoked the allocation and the authorization. And so that's almost a billion
01:37dollars that would have been frittered away doing what the green new deal and tailpipe
01:44emission monitoring and now can be residing in the federal coffers. And it's rare that states
01:51do that because most of them it's like, gimme, gimme, gimme. But the reality is, is we all have
01:56a role in trying to change the fiscal trajectory of this country. And you can sit there and say
02:03that, oh, you know, just whatever, nothing about me. But the reality is, is what we're doing is
02:09unsustainable. It's been unsustainable for a long time. So that's one thing we've done. Hopefully
02:15other states will fall soon. And look, I'm not saying, you know, if 25 states gave some money
02:20back and you ended up with 10, 15, 20 billion going back, as the federal debt goes, that is
02:27still a pretty small amount. But I think that this idea that unless you're eliminating the entire
02:33deficit or debt, that somehow it shouldn't matter. That's bad thinking. Every little bit counts.
02:40And that's how you have to be good stewards. And that's part of the reason why, you know,
02:43I just got back, I was in Idaho and Montana working with their legislature. So the Florida
02:48legislature is one of 27 states that have certified resolutions for a balanced budget
02:54amendment to the U.S. Constitution. So we have to balance our budget in Florida and we actually run
03:00big surpluses and we're spending less money this year than we did last year. But the federal
03:05government obviously has not done that. So if you look at the budget that was passed by the House
03:10of Representatives, Republican majority, they forecast, this is what they voted for. We have
03:1636 trillion in debt now. By the end of 2034, they're forecasting 56 trillion debt. And it's
03:24just like, you know, that's these Republicans. I mean, so that's just not going to work. So you
03:30need 34 states to be able to write an amendment and then eventually send it to the states for
03:36ratification. We have 27. Idaho and Montana are kind of on the bubble. There's some support,
03:43but maybe not enough. And so, you know, we went and met with the legislatures, met with the
03:47governor, governors of both states, and are, I think, having some success in just making the
03:54point that if all we're going to do is hope Congress changes its behavior, we are never,
04:01ever going to solve the problem. Like, they're not going to ultimately change their behavior.
04:06There may be a little blip here, a little blip there where there's some sanity that reigns,
04:11but ultimately, the incentives in Washington and the culture of Washington is going to keep
04:16them going in the direction that they're going. If you go back 25 years ago, the turn of the 21st
04:23century, from the time George Washington put his hand on the Bible and took the oath of office as
04:28our first president in 1789 until through the year 2000, the U.S. government accumulated 5.6
04:36trillion dollars in total debt. Since that time, we're now at 36 trillion over the last 25 years.
04:43So, a 30 plus trillion dollar increase in a quarter century, whereas we had over 200 years
04:51to get to 5.6 trillion, and even adjusted for inflation, you know, it's still a significant
04:56difference. So, you do need to impose a constitutional constraint on the ability of
05:03these politicians to bankrupt the country, and that's what we're looking to do. Florida was a
05:08leader in this and has been for some time. Florida is also, the legislature is also certified term
05:14limits for members of Congress, which I'm a big supporter of, and I know some other states are
05:18considering that. Don't have as many states yet on that one as the balanced budget amendment, because
05:23the balanced budget thing has been something that's been percolating. You know, it's interesting,
05:27we actually had a balanced budget in the late 90s in this country,
05:32and during that time, there was a push for a balanced budget amendment, and it failed by one
05:37vote in the U.S. Senate, and had it got that vote, now the states still would have had to ratify it,
05:42but since we already had a balanced budget, we probably would have had a good shot at that.
05:46Just think, if they had done a balanced budget requirement 25 years ago, how much different
05:53things could look in terms of the trajectory of the country, because now we're in a situation
05:57where we're spending over a trillion dollars just to pay interest on the existing debt.
06:03That's more than what we spend on the federal government's core function, which is national
06:08defense, and it's only going to escalate, particularly if you have to refinance at
06:13higher rates, and so the only way you're going to ever be able to solve the problem
06:18is to just constitutionally limit what they're able to do, because it's always the easiest to
06:22put it on the credit card, right? I mean, some people want spending. If you put on the credit
06:28card, then people tend to not get as upset. If you reduce the spending, some people don't like it.
06:33Obviously, we want low taxes. If they raise taxes, they know that they will face political blowback,
06:39so it's always the path of least resistance to do that. We don't have that luxury in the states.
06:4349 states have a balanced budget requirement, and Florida, not only have we balanced,
06:48we've had big surpluses in the state of Florida. In fact, if you look at Florida's entire history
06:54and look at all the debt Florida accumulated, just since I've been governor, we've paid off
06:5941 percent of the total debt in the state, so we now have the lowest per capita state debt
07:13of any state in the country. Now, there are a couple states, I think, that don't have any
07:16state debt. I think Montana is one of them. Kudos to that, but of the ones that do, we have the lowest
07:21percentage or the lowest per capita debt, which is really good, and we want to do more and continue
07:27to do it. So all that being said, as we've done that, and we're spending less money this year
07:33than we did the year before, we've paid down debt, we've almost quadrupled our rainy day fund,
07:38we've cut taxes, done all this, but we've also done things that really are central to the state's
07:48vitality that people want to see addressed, and we've used taxpayer dollars very prudently, but
07:55we've used them to make a big impact on a variety of subject matters. We've done it in transportation,
08:01we plowed billions and billions of dollars to accelerate road projects, so you're now having
08:07projects, and I know, look, these things take a lot longer than I would like, but because of what we
08:12are doing, we're going to deliver some of these projects in these congested areas five, ten, even
08:17fifteen years ahead of schedule. Just think of all the traffic that that's going to save by doing
08:23that, and so we know that that's important. It's a growing state. I tell these people I'm not asking
08:28for people to move here because we've got a lot of people, but people are free to go where they
08:33want in the United States, and that includes travelers. I mean, we've got a lot of tourists.
08:38You know, we were out with our kids a couple weeks ago, and I got all these Canadians coming up to me,
08:44and I was like, I thought you guys were boycotting. No, there's a lot of folks down here doing all that,
08:50so all that being said, we understand we got to do that. We've also done a lot on education.
08:55We have universal school choice in Florida. 540,000 students are on scholarship now,
09:01most in the in the country by far. We also have over 400,000 students in charter schools,
09:07but then each year since I've been governor, we've increased compensation for teachers,
09:12including the most recent year. We did 1.25 billion that was earmarked only for teacher
09:18salaries. You know, people say, oh, increase education. You send the money to the districts.
09:23That doesn't mean they're going to spend it on teachers. In fact, a lot of it goes to bureaucracy,
09:27so we created in the budget a special, I guess we call it a categorical, that it can only be used
09:36for teacher salaries, and we're looking to do even more this year, but we've done more in the last
09:41five or six years on that than the state of Florida has ever done by far, so we think that
09:47that's important. We also have done a lot with our universities, although we haven't raised tuition
09:51or let them raise tuition, so in-state tuition is about $6,300 for a Florida resident, which is the
09:58lowest in the entire United States, and you also have, we have four of the top 50 ranked public
10:05universities now in the United States of America, USF, FSU, UF, and then Florida International
10:15University, but then UCF's done good and others have done good, so that's a great value, and who
10:20knows, you know, if you're at University of Florida, maybe you'll be at a national championship basketball
10:25team winning, you know, who knows, right? We'll see. I get some applause for that. We probably have some
10:33Florida State fans in the crowd. I can tell you, I am not sure my kids, having, you know, been in
10:39Tallahassee for their formative years, I try to tell them, I said, listen, you know, you know, Dad's
10:46governor, he didn't go to any of those. We want all the Florida teams to do well. You can't
10:52be, you know, rooting against, like, it's one thing if you're a Florida State fan and you want to root
10:56for them against Florida or Miami at that point, okay, but guys, you know, if Florida's playing Duke
11:01and basketball, you gotta root for the Gators. I don't know if I've closed that sale with the kids
11:07yet, so we'll see. We'll keep you posted. So you've done, the education commitment has been fantastic.
11:14Tax relief has been fantastic. We've done billions and billions of dollars. We're now looking to
11:20eliminate the business rent tax. We've reduced it a lot. We're the only state in the country
11:25that actually taxes business rent. It makes it harder for small businesses to get off the ground,
11:30so that'll be a win for Florida if we're able to retire that, and then we're setting up to be able
11:36to do property tax relief, which is really needed in Florida. You know, you assess these values.
11:43First of all, until someone pays you for your property, you don't really know how it's worth,
11:49how much it's worth, so if you pay $250,000 for a home 10 years ago, now they come and tell you,
11:58oh, it's actually worth $800,000 pay up and more taxes. Well, really? Who says that?
12:03Just because some other house may have sold it doesn't mean that's what, and the market fluctuates,
12:08so I think people have gotten pinched on this. Now, property tax is local. It's not
12:13something that the state controls. We would need to put something on the ballot in 2026,
12:18but we're going to do that. We're going to put something on the ballot to give people relief,
12:25but we've also, even with that fiscal responsibility, even with the support for
12:32taxpayers, we have addressed better than any time in the state's history the protection of
12:38Florida's natural resources and the improvement of water quality in the state, and when I came in,
12:45we launched a big initiative, not just about Everglades restoration, but that was kind of
12:51the crown jewel because that's the biggest restoration program in the United States,
12:55and maybe even in the entire world. Incidentally, on that, we were meeting with some folks in the
13:01White House, and I've spoken to the president about this too. Our projects that we do for
13:09Everglades restoration, we do them much quicker than the Army Corps of Engineers does this. You
13:13remember with SERP, it's like a 50-50 cost share. This was 25 years ago. The feds are going to do,
13:20we're going to do, well, we're doing our part, and we've done a lot over the last six years to
13:25really move it forward as quickly as I think humanly possible. Not so much with the feds,
13:31particularly under Biden and the Army Corps. They just move very slowly. I think just the way it's
13:36organized, there's bureaucracy, it's cumbersome, and I think this is in keeping with the president's
13:42vision to empower the states. You know, what we've asked is, send us the money, we'll build the damn
13:48reservoir ourselves. We'll get it done. We will do it quicker. You can still take credit for your
13:54part of the cost share. We're not asking for that to change. It's still federal money, but let us do
13:59it, and I think that they want to do that. So, we're working with the folks in the budget office
14:03to be able to get that done, but wouldn't that be great if we were able to have that money block
14:08granted here, and then we could just run and do. I mean, you even look at the reservoir
14:13on the St. Lucie side of Lake Okeechobee. We did it, and now you have problems where there's
14:20leakage, and the feds are doing it, and it's just slow, and we move a lot quicker here. I mean, just
14:25think about when a hurricane comes, you have city, county, state really there for the immediate
14:35response and the immediate aftermath. Is there anyone here that would rather have FEMA take over
14:41those functions in Florida than the state of Florida? Anybody? I don't see any hands. We just
14:45move quicker. We have a culture in Florida where we don't want to be bogged down by bureaucracy
14:51and red tape. If there's a job to do, get it done, and let's get an answer, and let's move forward.
14:56So, I'm optimistic that we're going to be able to do that, but we've also recognized the importance
15:01of the Indian River Lagoon, Florida Springs, changing from septic tanks to sewer systems to be
15:07able to mitigate runoff into our nice areas, and we've put huge resources into this,
15:16and we've had a lot of success already, and we're continuing to build on the success, and so that's
15:21why we're here, because we are going to be announcing major grants, or we are announcing
15:27major grants to improve water quality and water quantity across the state of Florida, and I'm proud
15:35to say that we are awarding $389 million in these grants, and this includes $189 million
15:46in water quality improvement grants. So, this was, the legislature decided to put some of these
15:53water quality, the water quality program in a, we get money from the Seminole Tribe for the revenue
15:59share to put this in, to where every year you would just have it earmarked that this would go
16:04to these grants. There's, I think, about a three-month period where localities can apply
16:10for the grants, then it goes through the criteria that the legislature has enacted,
16:15and then the grants are selected and awarded, so we're happy to be able to do that. These are
16:20going to make a big difference across the state of Florida. We're also pleased to award $55 million
16:27to expand alternate, alternative water supply projects, and we've got a lot of water issues
16:33in Florida that we deal with. Making sure we have adequate water supply is sometimes overlooked,
16:39but it's something that's important, and we're pleased to say $100 million for the newly
16:47established Indian River Lagoon Protection Program, which is very important to people
16:52in this part of the state. So, this is the most biologically diverse estuary in all of North
17:02America, and it's a key economic driver both for the region and the state. With today's awards,
17:08we've now invested nearly $500 million in water quality improvements in this area alone
17:15since I became governor in 2019. The selected projects will provide the community with funds
17:20to upgrade wastewater facilities, convert septic systems to sewer, and reduce harmful runoff
17:27into the Indian River Lagoon, and we're really excited about that, and I want to thank
17:33everybody that's been involved with that. We're also doing $25 million to the Caloosahatchee
17:38Watershed Grant Program to reduce nutrients from depositing into the Caloosahatchee River
17:43and estuary. These investments support our communities and support our larger Everglades
17:49restoration projects, and we are going to have the reservoir on the western side of Lake Okeechobee
17:57completed. When is that scheduled? Pretty soon. Yeah, so for July. So, you will have that completed
18:03reservoir. You have the reservoir that we have completed on the eastern part of Lake Okeechobee
18:08that the feds are still kind of... Do we know what's the timeline on the feds finishing
18:13whatever remediation they have to do? This decade. This decade? He's being a little facetious, but
18:22I could ask them. We could take that over, too, probably, right? Yeah, okay. Well, maybe we'll do
18:27that one, too, but what you'll have, and then we have the reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee, which
18:32is the one we want to build. So, we already did the stormwater treatment area from that ahead of
18:37schedule. We want to have the full reservoir, which the Army Corps is in charge of doing, and we're
18:42just saying, just give us the grant. We'll go ahead and plow forward and do that, but you'll be in a
18:47situation where if that lake gets too high, they can send the water to these reservoirs, clean it,
18:54and then let it flow, and there's not going to be any problems with these algae blooms or anything
18:58like that. So, and on the Caloosahatchee, you know, 2018, that was before I was governor,
19:03they had a lot of problems with the algae. We've had a lot of problems on the east coast of Florida
19:07in 2016 in particular. It has gotten a lot better, partially when President Trump was in the first
19:13time, you know, I asked him, can you please ask the Army Corps to manage, because it's, we don't do the
19:18lake, you know, when water is discharged, that's the Army Corps. I was like, can you please have
19:22them manage it better so that they're not spewing this algae into the estuaries,
19:29and they did change the way they did it, and I know they worked a little bit
19:33differently when Biden was president, but we feel like we're in a much better spot on that,
19:37but both sides of Lake Okeechobee are really, really important. We're also pleased to announce
19:42$20 million to support the Biscayne Bay Water Quality Improvement Program. This will expedite
19:48water quality improvements and will reduce nutrients flowing into the bay. That's a very
19:52important treasure for people in the Miami region, and we've been very supportive of helping Biscayne
19:59Bay for the entire time that I've been governor. So, the projects that I'm announcing today will
20:04reduce harmful nutrients in our water, and they're projected to remove more than 1.1 million
20:11additional pounds of nitrogen and 286,000 additional pounds of phosphorus each and every
20:18year. That's a big, big improvement. These efforts will help communities upgrade wastewater treatment,
20:23improve stormwater systems, and connect septic systems to sewer lines, all to keep our water
20:28cleaner and healthier. Now, we are now in the midst of a legislative session. I have proposed in the
20:35governor's recommended budgets $550 million to continue advancing water quality improvements,
20:42and another $60 million to expand our alternative water supply efforts even further. We have shown
20:48a commitment to being good stewards of the state's natural resources, but we also recognize
20:54how this contributes to both our way of life and our economy, and it's really been the lifeblood
21:00of our economy when people want to come, and they come from all over the world to be able to enjoy
21:06fishing and boating and all the things that Florida has to offer. So, we've made Florida a leader in
21:12water resource protection, and we will continue to deliver results. I said when I became governor,
21:18we have a responsibility to leave the state of Florida to God better than we found it,
21:23and I'm pleased that we are doing just that. Okay, Alexis, come on up.
21:31Good morning. Thank you all for being here, and thank you so much, Governor. I'm Alexis Lambert,
21:38and it's my pleasure to serve as the Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
21:43It's an honor to be here on the Space Coast today, a place where scientific exploration,
21:49environmental conservation, and water resource management intersect. As we continue to protect
21:56and enhance the state's water resources, I'm excited to join the governor in announcing these
22:01grants that will improve both water quality and supply throughout Florida. This year's grant
22:07cycle generated significant interest with 348 project applications requesting more than 2.2
22:14billion dollars. After a thorough evaluation process, 31 high priority projects have been
22:20selected for funding, representing the most impactful and cost-effective solutions to reduce
22:28nutrient loading and improve water quality across the state. In addition to water quality
22:34improvement grants, we are focusing on targeted restoration efforts in key waterways, like right
22:40here at the Indian River Lagoon. Under the governor's leadership, we've invested 500 million
22:46in 169 community-led projects in this watershed. To date, 40 projects, including septic to sewer
22:53and stormwater, have been completed, with 27 scheduled for completion later this year.
23:00Collectively, these efforts are projected to remove more than 1.3 million
23:07pounds of nitrogen and more than 11,000 pounds of phosphorus annually. This will significantly
23:13improve the water quality. And today, we are taking the next step, funding 25 new projects
23:19to specifically address water quality in the lagoon. In Vero Beach, 11.3 million will support
23:26a state-of-the-art reclamation facility, and in Melbourne, 8.6 million will upgrade the Grant
23:32Street water facility, improving wastewater treatment and reducing nutrient pollution, just
23:37to name a few. These targeted investments in the Indian River Lagoon are a model for waterway
23:44restoration in other parts of the state, such as the Caloosahatchee River and Estuary and the
23:49Biscayne Bay, as the governor mentioned. While we continue to restore water quality, we must also
23:55look to the future of Florida's water supply, especially given our growing population and our
24:01millions of visitors each year. That's why Florida is leading the way in expanding water
24:06alternative water supply and reducing our reliance on traditional freshwater resources.
24:14Today, I'm proud to join the governor in announcing the allocation of $55 million
24:18for 14 alternative water supply projects across the state, which will produce more than 40 million
24:24gallons of clean water per day upon completion. Proactive investments like these are the hallmark
24:32of the DeSantis administration. Since 2019, investments in alternative water supply have
24:38generated more than 225 million gallons of new freshwater per day to support the long-term water
24:45sustainability for the state. But we're not stopping here. To build on this momentum, as the governor
24:52mentioned, he's recommended $550 million in next year's budget to support multiple water quality
24:58improvement grants and $60 million to advance more projects to secure an abundant and sustainable
25:04water supply for today and tomorrow. With this funding, DEP will open our grant portal this
25:11summer, and I encourage even more communities to apply. The partnerships we formed and the strategic
25:18investments that we're making in these projects are paving the way for sustainable future for
25:23Florida's water resources. I want to again thank Governor DeSantis for his leadership
25:28and the legislature for their continued support. Florida's economy, the recreation opportunities we
25:34enjoy as residents and our visitors, and our identity as a state depend on water resources.
25:40Together, we will ensure their protection for future generations. Thank you, Governor.
25:52Good morning, everyone. I'm Chauncey Goss. I'm chairman of the South Florida Water Management
25:57District's governing board, and Governor, I want to thank you. Secretary Lambert, thank you. I'd
26:00also like to recognize Cole Oliver, who's here with the St. John's River Water Management District,
26:05and thank you for hosting us today. Our executive director from the South Florida Water Management
26:10District, Drew Bartlett, is also here. This is a really exciting day for us. Anytime we get to
26:15announce funding for important projects, it's an exciting day. It's going to be a good day for us,
26:19and we're very appreciative of all the funding that we're seeing for water quality in the state,
26:24particularly from where I stand, the Caloosahatchee Watershed and the Biscayne,
26:28among others. I've been chairman of the South Florida Water Management District governing board
26:33for six years, and I can honestly tell you we've made more progress in these six years than we have
26:38made in decades, and the reason for that progress is standing beside me on this stage. When Governor
26:45DeSantis prioritizes something, it absolutely remains a priority until completion. Since he
26:52took office, we have celebrated 75 groundbreakings, major milestones, and completions on Everglades
26:59restoration and resiliency projects across our region, the most in state history. That's 75
27:04in six years, and to me that's incredible. We're continuing to see both small and large-scale
27:09projects come online, and the beauty of it is they're working. We're seeing record hydration
27:14in the Everglades, and salinity levels in Florida Bay are hitting our goals. We're not going to rest
27:20though, and I'm proud to tell you that in 2025, we have three more major SERP projects coming online.
27:26Governor DeSantis just mentioned the C-43. That's in my neighborhood. I live in Sanibel,
27:31so the C-43 is in Henry County. It's on the Caloosahatchee River. It's something we've been
27:35waiting for for a long time. This project, it's a game changer. It's going to provide 55 billion
27:40gallons of water storage. It's going to support healthy salinity levels in the Caloosahatchee
27:45estuary. Importantly for the economy and the ecology of southwest Florida, it's going to
27:51reduce harmful flows of water from the Caloosahatchee estuary from Lake Okeechobee. So thanks to the
27:57leadership of Governor DeSantis and the Florida Legislature, both the east and the west coast
28:01reservoirs, you just mentioned those, they're done. At the end of this year, we're going to
28:06celebrate the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands Project. That's another SERP effort. That
28:10redistributes fresh water flows to Biscayne Bay. It rehydrates and improves coastal habitat in
28:15Miami-Dade. It's a beautiful project. We got to visit it recently, and the third SERP project
28:20we're going to complete by the end of the year is the Picayune Strand Project. That's going to
28:24restore natural flow of water across 85 square miles in Collier County. I think it's a 55,000
28:30acre project. It's enormous. This project is going to rehydrate drained wetlands. It's going to
28:35enhance habitat for fish and wildlife and restore the area's natural sheet flow. So under Governor
28:40DeSantis, we've had the highest level of funding for Everglades restoration in our state's history,
28:45and I can't thank you enough for your leadership and your commitment on these.
28:49The energy and the momentum of the district, it's palpable, and it begins at the top with our
28:55governor. And I'll tell you, the staff at the district, they're really hard working, and they
28:58enjoy the fact that you set that bar so high. Your commitment to the Everglades, to water quality
29:03improvements, and to enhancing the quality of life for millions of Florida Floridians is inspiring
29:08to each of us, and I'm honored to be here representing the South Florida Water Management
29:12District and the nine million people we serve. We appreciate the funding and the support, sir.
29:23Okay, is that all right? That's fine. You can still hear me.
29:29Well, we appreciate what Secretary Lambert has done, kind of got thrown into the fire
29:36after Sean retired and has moved these projects forward, and then what Chauncey and Drew and
29:42people at the South Florida Water Management District, I mean, they've carried a lot of the
29:46load on all this stuff, and it's been a really great effort. We've moved quickly. We've continued
29:52to have these projects, groundbreakings, completions. We want to have the feds just
29:57turn over the keys to the kingdom for us on those, and we'll run with it. I mean, we really want to
30:03get this stuff done. I think it's important. I mean, we've already seen some of the great
30:08results with Florida Bay salinity and all these other things, and yes, when the C-43 is there,
30:14that's going to be a great place to be able to store and clean water and move it in the rainy
30:20season if you need to without having the same problems we've seen in the past with some of
30:26these discharges. So it's really good stuff. We've got to keep the momentum going. I know we've had a
30:31lot of support from folks in the legislature. We appreciate that. We want to continue to bring all
30:37these projects to a conclusion so that finally, we're 25 years into SERP, finally we'll be able
30:46to say that this stuff's gotten done. Okay, do we have any questions out there? Yes. Thank you,
30:52Governor DeSantis, for being here today. I'm Gabrielle from the Dixie County Advocate in the
30:57Big Bend. Oh, cool. What brings you to this neck of the woods? Well, it's a beautiful place, right?
31:04And you're here. We're here for you. But you mentioned property taxes, and the local governments
31:10in the Big Bend are concerned about some of the proposals to raise the homestead exemption to
31:16$100,000 and what that would do to their ability to provide services to their residents. Can you
31:22comment on that, sir? Well, look, I think that people need relief from property taxes. I think
31:30that a lot, I think our coastal counties with the tourism, first of all, budgets have grown locally
31:37in the last five or six years. Some of these budgets have gone 50, 60, 70 percent in some of
31:43these places because the revenue has just been off the charts in some of the areas that have really
31:48had economic growth. So just by reverting to five years ago, the spending, if you held that
31:56constant, you would be able to continue to do the core functions. But, you know, if you're going to
32:02tax, I don't want you taxing Florida residents' property. Tax the tourists. Tax some of the
32:08foreigners. I mean, you have the ability in some of those areas that draw a lot of people to shift
32:13the tax burden away from your own people to people that are not residents of Florida. I think that
32:19would be a better tax system than constantly having people pay higher property taxes. Now, on rural,
32:25I'm willing to work with rural on that because they don't have the same luxury that a Broward
32:31County would have or Miami-Dade would have when you have people that are flooding down there. So
32:35the economic realities are just different. Now, we also want to do things to juice some
32:41manufacturing and some production in those areas. I mean, I've already, I've talked with folks about,
32:46you know, could we bring auto manufacturing to the Big Bend? I would be in favor of that. I've
32:53even said, I would say, if you start a facility in those areas that have been hit by the more
32:58recent hurricanes in the Big Bend, I would say pay no tax for 10 years. Like, no corporate tax
33:05if you're starting a business, if you're doing manufacturing there. So we want to be helpful,
33:10but if the price that we have to pay to give Floridians relief from property taxes is that
33:16the state provides some budget support for some of our rural, fiscally constrained counties,
33:21that'd be a trade I would make.
33:23Governor Sanders, I just had a question for you regarding NASA headquarters. I know that you have a big push, you want a new headquarters here at Kennedy Space Center. Can you talk about that, and in addition, NASA cuts.
33:37Last week, Representative Herodopoulos said that the only people who have left NASA here at Kennedy Space Center are the ones who accepted the buyouts.
33:47And you said you met with Elon Musk yesterday. Some people are worried about losing their job. Is that a possibility?
33:53Well, on the NASA headquarters, so you know, this is one of the things I raised with Elon,
33:58and I think he's supportive of having the headquarters there, but he also recuses himself
34:03from issues regarding NASA just because he has SpaceX. So we've raised it with the
34:10president, we've raised it with the OMB. What it would end up doing, it fits right in with DOES,
34:15because right now, they are planning on spending over a half a billion dollars to build a new NASA
34:21headquarters in Washington, D.C. Their current headquarters has been vacant for four years,
34:26like literally almost nobody shows up to this. So there's not necessary, and when they tell you it's
34:31going to be a half a billion, you know it'll probably end up being a billion dollars. They're
34:35already making expansions at Kennedy, and you could basically use that existing footprint
34:43to move the NASA headquarters there, and you'd save the taxpayers half a billion, maybe even a
34:48billion dollars, and you'd also have people in the agency where the action is. They don't need to be
34:54in Washington, D.C. I want to get these agencies out of Washington, D.C. It's a swamp. It's a
35:01toxic culture because all this power is accumulated there, whether it's the House, the Senate, the
35:07bureaucrats, the age, all this stuff, and that's not what the founding fathers intended. So NASA
35:13should be, and look, it should be in the Space Coast, but you could argue it could be other
35:20places. It should not be in Washington, D.C. Spending that money is a waste to build a new
35:25headquarters there. I'm pretty sure DOES is going to nix the headquarters, and then it's just a
35:31question of where the administration wants to move NASA headquarters, but I think this is as good a
35:36place as any by far. If you look at all the stuff that's happening here, this is where the most of
35:42the launches occur. This is where the history is, and it's really good. Now in terms of the
35:47workforce, I would defer to the Congress folks and the administration on that. I'm not
35:53privy to how they're handling those matters, you know, just as governor, but I will just say
35:58we've done a lot. If you look, they just opened the bridge. I mean, look at the stuff that we've done
36:04to be able to support infrastructure and to be able to support workforce just in this region
36:09alone. I mean, we've done more certainly than any administration in Florida history, because we
36:14understand that this is, I mean, just think back to 15 years ago, 14, 15 years ago, Space Coast was
36:20dead when Obama retired the shuttle. There were people losing their jobs, no vitality, and then
36:27now look at where we're at. A lot of that is private money has come in. I think government under
36:32Trump has handled it better. So there's a lot of opportunities here, and we've been on the
36:38forefront of that. So we want to be able to have our young people have a pathway into these
36:45industries and working for these companies. Maybe it's NASA, but quite frankly, you'll make more
36:49money working for SpaceX. You'll make more money working for some of these others. You can come
36:53right out of high school in some of these companies. We also have Embry-Riddle,
36:59we have UCF, we've got State College. We've got all these pipelines that we've really worked hard
37:04to do. So I think we're doing a lot to equip our young people with the skills they need to make an
37:11impact in this continuing, continually expanding industry, and the possibilities are really
37:17significant. Obviously, just the fact that Elon's involved in the administration, even though he's
37:22not having decision involvement on the things that could potentially affect his business,
37:27I think clearly you have a commitment from the President and the administration
37:31to continue expanding our horizons in space, and it's something I think will be good for this area.
37:38Yes?
37:38There's a special election in your former Congressional District 6 going on right now.
37:46Just as early as last November, President Trump won that district by over 30 points,
37:51but the latest polls as of yesterday show that the candidate running there now,
37:55poll numbers have literally fallen under the desk. Has the candidate that's running there now
37:59jeopardized that seat, making it more competitive than what's historically a safe Republican
38:04district?
38:04I guess we'll see, right? What I will tell you, I will tell you this, regardless of the outcome
38:10in that, it's going to be a way under performance from what I won that district by in 22 and what
38:15President won it by in November. They're going to try to lay that at the feet of President Trump.
38:20That is not a reflection of President Trump. It's a reflection of the specific candidate running in
38:25that race, and President Trump, if he were on the ballot in this special election, he would win by
38:3130 points, no question. So the liberal media in Washington and the political press, they're going
38:38to try, if this doesn't work out as well, they're going to try to weaponize that against the
38:43President, and just as somebody that's been around the block here in Florida on this stuff, I can
38:49tell you that's not, it's a candidate-specific issue. I think the district is so overwhelmingly
38:55Republican that there's literally, it was almost impossible for someone with an R by their name
39:01to lose that district. So I would anticipate a Republican candidate is still going to be
39:06successful. Do I think that they will get even close to the margins that I received or President
39:11Trump received? No. Is that a reflection on the President? Absolutely not. It's a reflection of
39:17the candidate that's running in that race. Okay, thanks everybody. God bless.