- A group of eight Democratic Florida lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives is trying to overcome Gov. Ron DeSantis’ veto of two federal block grants totaling $29 million, which led to the cancellation of an additional $346 million in federal funding block grants for the state.
- The coalition wrote a joint letter to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to inquire about the possibility of administering energy rebates in Florida through either a federal program directly overseen by the government or through programs managed at the county and city levels.
- The vetoed grants were intended to support upgrading rural wastewater motors, improving pumping infrastructure, and establishing planning and accountability infrastructure for energy efficiency programs.
- DeSantis’ veto decision has prompted calls to redirect these funds to other states willing to utilize them.
A Democrat consortium of eight Florida lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives is seeking to bypass Gov. Ron DeSantis’ veto of two federal block grants worth $29 million that culminated in the cancellation of an additional $346 million in federal funding block grants.
The joint letter, penned to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, inquires about the potential administration in Florida of energy rebates funded under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Investment in Jobs Act (IIJA) despite DeSantis’ veto.
The letter proposes that the rebates be made available to Floridians through either a federal program directly overseen by the government or through programs managed at the county and city levels.
The entreaty was signed off on by Reps. Jared Moskowitz, Darren Soto, Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Frederica Wilson, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Lois Frankel, and Kathy Castor.
“These rebates stand to assist families in need who are looking to upgrade their homes with more energy-efficient appliances, accelerating the nation’s transition towards clean energy,” reads the letter.” To safeguard Floridians’ access to this vital assistance, we hope that the Department will consider administering these rebates either through a direct federally managed program or through locally managed programs, supplementing state and territory-administered initiatives.”
DeSantis’ vetoes, which were first reported on by The Capitolist in June, resulted in Florida withdrawing from a program aimed at providing rebates to Florida consumers for energy-efficient household appliances. The specific nullifications in question, Line item 1463A and Line item 1463B in the state’s 2023 veto list, involved federal block grants that wouldn’t have required any additional state-level expenditures.
Line item 1463A, a $24 million grant, aimed to upgrade rural wastewater motors and improve pumping infrastructure in smaller Florida counties while Line item 1463B, a $5 million grant under the Federal Inflation Reduction Act, was intended to establish planning and accountability infrastructure for a larger federal program to enhance energy efficiency nationwide. DeSantis’s veto of Line item 1463B resulted in Florida’s disqualification from receiving two larger federal block grants worth $173 million each.
“Gov. DeSantis rejected nearly $346M in rebates — we must find a way for Floridians to benefit from these cost-savings,” wrote Soto on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Meanwhile, New Hampshire Senator Jack Reed is petitioning to claim the rejected funds, urging the U.S. Department of Energy to redirect the dollars to Rhode Island and other states that will commit to utilizing its allocation.
“If Gov. DeSantis wants to bury his head in the sand … and turn down $354 million for Florida, other states should pick up the slack and put that money to work the way Congress intended.”
Reed’s actions have a precedent. In 2011, former Gov. Rick Scott rejected federal funding for rail infrastructure upgrades from the Obama Administration, resulting in those funds being redirected to California.