Gov. Ron DeSantis says he is establishing a Resilient Florida program that will make $1 billion in grants available for local governments over four years.
The governor announced the program Thursday as he unveiled his state budget proposal for the coming fiscal year.
DeSantis says the grants are aimed at helping local governments adapt to more frequent flooding, intensifying storm events and sea level rise.
“We believe that this makes a lot of economic sense when you look at how an insurance market would view property insurance, and to see that Florida is leading in trying to get ahead of some of these impacts.”
The governor called for $625 million for Everglades restoration and water resources, a central issue of his administration. He also recommended $50 million for springs.
Florida Conservation Voters’ Carson Mitchell says the money doesn’t do enough.
“As we know, Florida is woefully behind in planning for climate change. So the governor’s commitment to invest a billion dollars in resiliency funding for local governments to better plan and prepare for sea level rise and flooding is welcome and necessary. But at the same time the governor has failed to invest in or lead in reducing our reliance on dirty fossil fuels.” Mitchell says a transition to clean renewable energy is a better solution. The Legislature will take up DeSantis’ budget proposal in March.