AUBURNDALE, Fla. — As he announced billions of state dollars going toward Florida roads, Gov. Ron DeSantis is standing firm against accepting federal funds that "come with strings attached."
DeSantis spoke Thursday at SunTrax Test Facility and Toll Operations in Auburndale to discuss Florida's ongoing commitment to relieving congestion and improving roads throughout the state.
"Our only focus is on quality of life for Floridians, making sure that we're easing congestion, making sure we have safe roads, making sure that they're in good shape," DeSantis said.
"We are not using transportation to push an ideological agenda, like the Biden administration is doing," he continued. "It is wrong."
DeSantis said he believed that despite being among the top states for road conditions, Florida is one of several states receiving the least federal transportation funding. The state ranks No. 6 nationwide behind New York, California, New Jersey, Illinois and Texas and has been allocated about $637 million toward various transportation projects in the current fiscal year, according to the Department of Transportation.
"Part of that is we don't do the 'strings attached,'" he said. "If we have to sign up for DEI and all this stuff just to receive road funding, we're not going to do that. We're not going to allow the federal government to use the purse strings to impose bad policies on the state of Florida."
He claimed the Biden administration is using the Department of Transportation to forward a political agenda, harkening back to several years ago when Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework would address "racist" roads, including ones in Florida.
Florida Politics reports Buttigieg made the remarks, saying the plan would address "racism that went into those design choices" of 20th-century roads and highways that divided major cities and destroyed neighborhoods, such as the Historic Gas Plant District in St. Petersburg.
“In 2022, Biden’s Secretary of Transportation launched a $1 billion transportation project that he said would combat ‘racist roads.’ And I’m thinking ‘Like, everyone drives our roads.' We’re not doing — I don’t know where you’re getting that (we’re) trying to do (that),” DeSantis said.
A report in January from the Orlando Sentinel says DeSantis and state leaders have rejected at least $11 billion in federal funding over the last several years. Again, citing strings attached, the roads being "politized" or efforts to fight climate change.
In December 2023, Business Insider reported Florida rejected $320 million in federal funds aimed at reducing emissions, with transportation officials reportedly saying the money was "politicization of our roadways."
A coalition of businesses, including major gas station chains, earlier this month called on the state to open up applications for $198 million in federal funding over the next five years allocated for electric vehicle charging.
"While other states are celebrating the opening of the first NEVI chargers, the businesses along Florida’s interstates still can’t apply to participate in this program, which was part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law," the Charge Ahead Partnership said in a statement.
The governor said in this fiscal year's budget, taking effect on July 1, $14.5 billion is allocated to 946 different transportation projects throughout Florida. The sum includes more than $5 billion to maintain and construct new highways, DeSantis said.
Other allocations included, according to FDOT:
- $1.8 billion for resurfacing, improving 3,128 lane miles
- $960.6 million for freight, rail, and community transportation systems
- $382.5 million for the repair of 72 bridges and replacement of 15 bridges
- $334.2 million for aviation investments
- $215.3 million for Florida Trails, including $50 million for the SUN Trail Network
- $210.1 million for safety enhancements
- $182.2 million for rural infrastructure programs
- $109.6 million for seaport improvements
"The reality is when you lead the nation in net in-migration year-after-year, which we have now for a number of years, that requires there to be the supporting infrastructure to be able to handle that," DeSantis said.
"Part of our focus has been on accelerating projects that were probably in the hopper to happen 10 years from now, probably not getting done until 20-plus years, accelerating them, infusing the cash and getting this done ahead of schedule," DeSantis said.
He mentioned his trip to SunTrax back in January 2023 where he announced the ambitious "Moving Florida Forward" initiative. At the time he said he was allocating more than $7 billion in the state budget to fast-track road projects throughout the state. However, the budget had yet to be approved by Florida lawmakers.
On Thursday, DeSantis said many of his asks were allocated in last year's budget and the rest were included in this year's budget.