TAMPA, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke Thursday afternoon at the opening of the Florida State Fair in Tampa.
Giving remarks following the Pledge of Allegiance, an invocation and welcoming words from Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, DeSantis talked of better weather and fair food as he did his part to ring in the fair — now in its 121st year — before hitting talking points on statewide and national politics.
Of note were the governor’s comments about President Donald Trump’s apparent desire to revamp or discontinue FEMA, to which he simultaneously said the proposed changes wouldn’t be as drastic as “the media is spinning it,” yet reassured the crowd that Florida and its spending power is able to handle whatever’s thrown at it weather-wise, even without the federal agency.
“The president was getting flack because of the media saying, ‘Oh, you know, he wants to dismantle FEMA and leave the states to fend for themselves.’ First of all, when I approach these disasters, I look at what levers are available and I just pull whatever levers- so if the federal government has a program that can benefit people, I’ll push that lever, if they don’t, then that’s fine,” DeSantis said. “(...) That’s not what the president is actually talking about doing. What he’s talking about doing makes a lot of sense. If you had a disaster — and you can look at, like, what’s the typical cost of a Category 4 hurricane or any of these other things that happen and look to see how much FEMA has actually spent on those throughout the past — and then if a disaster comes, you can take whatever that amount is typically, spend 80% of that, block grant to the state, cut the bureaucracy of FEMA out entirely, and that money will go further than it currently does at greater amounts going through FEMA’s bureaucracy.”
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According to a news release published by FEMA in November 2024, the agency had by that time approved more than $1 billion in federal disaster aid for homeowners and renters in Florida after hurricanes Milton, Helene and Debby, to the tune of $449.2 million, $516.6 million and $49.8 million, respectively.
The Florida State Fair opened Thursday and will run through Feb. 17.
Watch DeSantis’ speech again in the video player below or by clicking here.
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