DeSantis on Thursday used his veto power to eliminate $ 35 million for a sports training and youth tournament complex in Pasco County, Tampa Bay, which local authorities hoped would serve as a new tool for Rays player development . On Friday, he said he cut funding because “I do not support giving dollars to taxpayers in professional sports stadiums.”
However, a source said that the republican leader has not made his decision until the “Rays” take an organizational position calling for action after the latest mass shootings.
Two days after a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at a Texas elementary school, the broadcasters announced a $ 50,000 donation to Everytown to Gun Safety, an organization that advocates policies to prevent gun violence. The Major League Baseball team also tweeted a statement calling for action.
“This cannot be normal,” he tweeted. “We can’t go numb. We can’t look the other way. We all know that if nothing changes, nothing changes.
This will not be the first time DeSantis has opposed a company that takes a political stance against him. DeSantis signed a bill in April to revoke Disney’s special management status in Florida after the company publicly criticized a new state law that bans certain classroom instructions on sexual orientation and gender identity.
DeSantis hinted on Friday that he was unhappy with the remarks, telling reporters at a news conference that it was “inappropriate to subsidize the political activity of a private corporation.” But he added: “Anyway, it’s not appropriate, but we weren’t in a situation where using tax dollars for a professional stadium would be a sensible use.”
A spokeswoman for the radio did not respond to a request for comment.
Pasco County has successfully lobbied state lawmakers to include $ 35 million in the budget for a sports complex in Odessa that will provide “community facilities for general recreation, youth / amateurs / professional participation in baseball and softball, sports tourism and other programs and events.” , according to the budget request. He hoped the beams would move their training operations to the complex.
DeSantis was skeptical of the proposal, the source said. The governor thought he could upset the residents of Port Charlotte – home of the current Rays spring training base – if he helped the team move to another part of Florida, and he did not believe it would provide much economic benefit from relocating training to rays from one part of the state to another.
The new complex also needed the rays and local authorities to invest $ 35 million, which they had yet to formally commit to, another hurdle for the governor.
But DeSantis – who grew up as a small league star in Dunedin, not far from where the Rays eventually opened their St. Petersburg stadium – was not entirely against the project until the Rays made a donation to Everytown and commented on the tragedies on Twitter. This made it easier politically, the source said.
In the past, DeSantis has opposed stricter gun laws. As a candidate for governor in 2018, he opposed the gun control measures in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, signed by the then governor. Rick Scott, a Republican, after the mass shooting at a school in Parkland, Florida. DeSantis recently promised to support legislation that allows people to carry weapons in public without permission.
Catherine Starkey, chairwoman of Pasco County’s board of commissioners, said she was unaware that DeSantis’ veto could be linked to the recent advocacy of gun violence and did not comment. But she said she was “disappointed” that the money would not be there for a new training facility.
“Everyone I spoke to in the community was excited about the opportunity for the player development complex to come, but we will continue to talk to Rays and try to reach an agreement,” Starkey said. “That makes it harder.”
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