More than $32 million of state funding that was previously approved and allocated for Florida museums, educational institutions and arts programs has been vetoed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
With the completion of a June 12 “veto list” that totaled close to a billion dollars in cuts overall, DeSantis finalized the state budget, effectively wiping out millions of dollars in state arts and cultural funding that was planned for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
According to The Florida Cultural Alliance, DeSantis’ veto is “…unprecedented in the history of the grants program and is dismaying … zero dollars ($0) for the state arts and culture grants.”
According to a June 12 press release on flgov.com, the official website of Gov. DeSantis, “This year’s budget features significant investments for Florida’s top needs, and thanks to the Governor’s line-item actions, this budget will also result in $17 billion remaining for budgetary reserves. This funding will continue Florida’s important work in providing tax relief for its citizens; investing in our #1-in-the-nation education system; and supporting law and order, disaster preparedness, continued economic development, environmental conservation, and more.”
Speaking with Pattie Pardee, executive director of the Museum of Art – DeLand, Beacon staff learned a bit about how the unexpected budgetary cuts directly affect the cultural landscape of DeLand, as well as how the museum will proceed without state funding that was expected for budgeting in the coming year.
“When it was first announced that [Gov. DeSantis] had signed the budget into law and had vetoed so many things … it was shocking,” Pardee said. “There had already been cuts made to the budget lines, so I think everybody was prepared that there wouldn’t be as much funding this year. The fact that once it got past those initial cuts and actually landed on DeSantis’s desk, and he vetoed them totally, was gobsmacking.”
Total amount of cuts in West Volusia
$192,812
Museum of Art – DeLand – $51,739
Athens Theatre – $51,700
Gateway – $27,106
Daytona State College – $20,696
African American Museum of the Arts – $5,918
DeLand Naval Air Station Museum – $4,894
Shoestring Theatre – $3,055
Stetson University – $8,930
The Fall Festival of the Arts – $9,400
West Volusia Historical Society – $9,374
“The state already has a $17 billion budget reserve … he just increased a budget that was really, really healthy,” Pardee said. “I haven’t seen anything that indicates that the governor is even remotely inclined to justify anything in these cuts.”
She explained a bit of the process an arts program goes through to request state funding.
“Our grant had already been approved for funding” during the legislative budget process in 2024, Pardee said. “When it’s finalized by the governor, that’s what you get … So our grant funding that we were expecting to begin July 1 and run through June 30 of next year is gone. It’s eliminated. In no way did I expect it to be ‘zeroed out.’”
Pardee pointed out how many people the museum serves just in one year.
“We run the museum — which serves upwards of 70,000 people a year — with approximately six staff. As far as administration and program administration, that’s done with six people. There’s no way to continue to function and cut any of those employees … and still continue to fulfill our mission and our programs that we are already committed to,” Pardee said, of the responsibilities of running the museum, which has two locations in DeLand.
In order to fill the gap of more than $50,000, Pardee said they’ll have to get creative.
“We cut back during COVID and stayed lean, so we have to raise more money. I will be looking for more funding sources through individuals and foundations and corporate dollars. We’re just going to keep moving along, like everyone else,” Pardee said resolutely.
“We have to try. That’s the ‘state of affairs’ at the museum, and I’m very proud of what we do and how we’re able to accomplish it. We will just keep looking for sources and resources to make up that deficit and keep serving the citizens of Volusia County,” Pardee said.
There is much in the Governor’s approved budget I disagree with, however, on this issue I say, Good on the Governor! So-called non-profits, that were once mostly funded through private donations, have come to rely on tax dollars far too much. Their boards have gotten lazy with the easy money flowing in. The free market should be allowed to work even for non-profits. If the public appreciates what is offered enough they will support it and if not it should be allowed to fade away.
Additionally, at the County and City levels we have a very unfair taxing system where many of us older established folks are placing our burdens on the backs of our younger hard working folks who are struggling to make it. And many of us, who are paying next to no property taxes, have the nerve to go beg our County and City Councils to take even more from our struggling hard working younger folks we are already over burdening so what is taken can be given away to the cultural so-called non-profits of their choosing. And it should be noted, many of the cultural so-called non-profits grab our tax dollars from a variety of different sources.
Everyone should give as they wish and they should allow their neighbors to do the same based on their ability and desire to do so. It is NOT the government’s responsibility, nor should it be, to make our charitable giving decisions for us. And let us never forget, tax dollars are taken from us unfairly BY FORCE and with threat of the loss of our homes, the loss of our property, and even the possibility of the loss of our freedom.
Ron won’t finance your filth and depravity. Good!!!