In this episode: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just slashed millions of dollars in funding for river restoration, public radio, and well-behaved inmates who want to phone their families. But the Republican governor also approved pork-barrel projects supporting the Inter Miami Major League Soccer team, owners and breeders of thoroughbred racehorses, and a giant real-estate developer near Daytona Beach. We take a closer look at what DeSantis decided to veto — and, more importantly, what he chose to approve — in Florida’s new $115 billion state budget. 

Show notes

People in Florida prisons will get free calls for good behavior in new program

Free prison call program rewarded good behavior, cost taxpayers zero. DeSantis killed it

Ron DeSantis just pocketed nearly $1 million from an industry he helped

After a personal meeting, and a $10,000 donation, DeSantis approved a $10 million earmark

Florida lawmakers may unleash a last-second expansion of school privatization

A billionaire is showering cash on Florida politicians

Florida taxpayers will help fund a lavish pay package for a new university president

A few quotes referenced in the show from Ron DeSantis’ June 30th budget news conference: 

Schools of Hope charter schools

“We got an overhaul to our Schools of Hope program. So you’re going to have groups — like there’s a group in New York City, Success Academy, and they’ve been able to do very well in New York City, which is very tough because the unions want to kill charter schools up there and the elected officials are negative — they’re going to be able to go in the most dire areas of Florida and open up these schools and potentially change people’s lives for the better…I’m glad we were able to work with the Legislature to get that through in this extended session.”

Civics Seal of Excellence teacher training

“We created this Civics Seal of Excellence program. We created a 50-hour course — well, we didn’t, we got scholars from, like, Hillsdale, Heritage Foundation, all these places, and they devised this programming, basically lectures — about all these different things that went into the formation of the country and the values and principles that made us a unique experiment.”

 New College of Florida takeover

“We made sweeping appointments to the Board of Trustees, they replaced the president with a conservative who had been the commissioner of education under our administration in the first term, and now, all of a sudden, they’re bringing in these professors that are, like, really, really strong. And that is being transformed almost into, like, our version of a Hillsdale College.”

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