Money for some of the planned climate resilience and pedestrian improvements on Breakers Avenue near the beach in Fort Lauderdale. Dollars for a new “AgriCenter” at the South Florida Fairgrounds. And cash for a senior program in West Park.
They’re all “turkeys” contained in the state budget, identified by Florida TaxWatch in its annual review of the spending plan crafted by the Legislature as it awaits action by the governor.m
Those three South Florida projects, totaling $1.9 million, are tiny drops in the state spending bucket.
The Budget Turkey Watch report this week cited 450 appropriations in the budget costing a total of $854.6 million. And even that enormous sum represents less than 1% of the entire proposed state budget of $117.5 billion.
The 2024 legislative session was the fourth year in a row that “the state experienced large budget surpluses generated by record-setting revenue growth,” TaxWatch senior vice president of research Kurt Wenner said in a statement.
“Budget turkeys and member projects have proliferated at an accelerated rate,” he said, urging legislative leaders “to heed our concern that this trend is unsustainable and makes it impossible to equitably serve all Floridians.”
Turkeys
TaxWatch has been highlighting what it calls turkeys for more than 40 years. The objective, the organization said, is to provide an “additional level of oversight by identifying individual appropriations projects that circumvent or violate a thoughtful and thorough legislatively established budget process.”
The attention hasn’t reduced the tendency of lawmakers to add projects to the state budget, especially when the state treasury is overflowing with money received from taxpayers. The number and total spending on turkeys this year is up substantially since 2023, when the organization reported 218 turkeys worth $598.7 million.
TaxWatch emphasizes repeatedly — in comments from its leadership and in its written report — that it’s not saying the turkeys are inherently bad, and it’s not calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis to necessarily excise them from the state budget.
“It is very important to note that the Budget Turkey label does not signify judgment of a project’s merit, value, or need,” TaxWatch stated in the report — emphasizing the point by putting it in boldface, italic, red type.
“While a project may be worthwhile, Budget Turkeys tend to serve a limited (not statewide) area, are often not core functions of state government, are more appropriately funded with local or private dollars, or circumvent competitive bidding or selection as well as oversight and taxpayer accountability. These attributes do not automatically make a member project a Budget Turkey, but they highlight why member projects should receive full scrutiny during the budget process,” the report added.
TaxWatch describes itself as “an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit taxpayer research institute and government watchdog.”
Members of the Legislature — at least the ones who manage to get their projects added to the state budget — have defended the process. Sometimes such projects are called pork-barrel spending. But legislators said the projects are important and allow them to identify specific needs that might not get addressed in large-scale state spending programs.
Important spending
Plenty of items on the turkey list are virtually guaranteed to become law, both because they clearly appear as if they’re legitimate uses of government money and often because there are political considerations.
One project labeled a turkey that seems exceedingly unlikely to face a gubernatorial veto is money for security upgrades at the Holocaust Documentation & Education Center in Dania Beach.
Though it’s sponsored by two Broward Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book and state Rep. Hillary Cassell, DeSantis has repeatedly supported enhanced security funding for Jewish institutions. And the program in question has prominent Republican supporters.
And the proposed 70,000 square-foot AgriCenter at the South Florida Fairgrounds has another purpose as an emergency shelter, according to budget documents filed by sponsors state Sen. Lori Berman and state Rep. Jervonte Edmonds, both Democrats.
Supporting material filed along with the request reported Palm Beach County needs 1,200 special needs beds in a shelter. The facility at the fairgrounds, the only one of its kind in the county, can accommodate 550 people. The proposed facility would be built to withstand Category 5 winds and eliminate the shortfall in beds.
Even more
Beyond the turkeys, TaxWatch asked the governor to provide “especially close scrutiny” to $912.2 million in specific line-items, as well as over 1,600 member projects totaling $2.8 billion.
The organization said the projects should be subjected to a competitive review and selection process, which should be spelled out in state law, to ensure they are prioritized, compete fairly for funding and part of a statewide plan.
Under the current system, people can’t be assured that the spending on one park or program or college is a higher priority for the state than one that didn’t get funded.
Among the categories cited are large amounts of money for local transportation, housing and community development, schools, private colleges and universities, local law enforcement and fire departments, economic development and emergency management.
That would encompass many South Florida projects in the proposed budget, including $500,000 for cameras and closed circuit video in Wilton Manors, $250,000 for the Miramar Real Time Crime Center, $500,000 for public safety improvements and $500,000 for a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office substation in Wellington.
Among the items in the categories that TaxWatch said should be part of a more thought-out process for funding is the $3 million allocated for the LeMieux Center for Public Policy at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, spending sponsored by state Rep. Mike Caruso, a Republican, and state Sen. Bobby Powell Jr., a Democrat.
The center’s namesake, George LeMieux, a former U.S. senator, is chairman of the board of directors of the prominent Florida law firm Gunster. And he’s the immediate past chair of TaxWatch.
Local list
More than a dozen other Broward and Palm Beach county appropriations were spelled out on the turkey list. (Details from the TaxWatch report, the state budget and supporting documents filed with the Legislature). They include:
- $271,577 for “safety and health enhancements and amenities” at a park in Tamarac. Sponsored by state Rep. Dan Daley and state Sen. Rosalind Osgood.
- $1 million for historic restoration at Peanut Island in Palm Beach County. The currently vacant Coast Guard Station is historically significant dating back to World War II, the Cuban Missile Crisis and as the site of former President John F. Kennedy’s bunker. Sponsored by state Rep. Mike Caruso, a Republican, and state Sen. Bobby Powell Jr., a Democrat.
- $1 million to advance work on the Center for Arts & Innovation, planned for downtown Boca Raton. Sponsored by state Rep. Mike Caruso and state Sen. Gayle Harrell, both Republicans.
- $2 million for preliminary engineering for reconstruction County Road 880 in Palm Beach County. No sponsor was listed.
- $250,000 for athlete mentoring in Broward County Public schools. It would expand a pilot program focused on mental health and wellbeing of student athletes and others involved in competitive extracurricular activities. Sponsored by state Rep. Chip LaMarca, a Republican, and state Sen. Rosalind Osgood, a Democrat and former member of the School Board.
- $989,342 for a program aimed at growing the technology workforce in the Glades communities near Lake Okeechobee which have much higher unemployment rates than other parts of Palm Beach County. Sponsored by state Rep. Rick Roth, a Republican, and state Sen. Lori Berman, a Democrat.
- $358,750 for a West Jupiter Community Group program to expose students to opportunities in service technology and trades, including culinary, electronics, fashion design & sewing, design & drafting, auto, carpentry and home renovation. Sponsored by state Sen. Bobby Powell Jr., a Democrat.
- $1.1 million for the Max Planck Florida Scientific Fellows Program with Florida Atlantic University. Sponsored by state Rep. Mike Caruso and state Sen. Gayle Harrell, both Republicans.
- $475,000 for generators for residential group homes operated by JARC Florida, which provides services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. So far seven of the homes have generators and the money would install generators at three remaining houses and a supported living apartment building. Sponsored by state Rep. David Silvers and state Sen. Lori Berman, both Democrats.
- $400,000 for a senior program that provides low cost activities and nutrition in West Park. Sponsored by state Rep. Marie Woodson and state Sen. Jason Pizzo, both Democrats.
- $400,000 to provide money to supplement federal school nutrition programs so the Chabad Hebrew Academy can cover the cost of providing Kosher meals and snacks during school. Sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book and state Rep. Dan Daley, both Democrats.
- $500,000 toward a much larger proposal involving pedestrian safety improvements, lighting, landscaping and resiliency improvements to prevent flooding with underground water and sewer utility upgrades in Breakers Avenue in Fort Lauderdale. Sponsored by state Rep. Chip LaMarca, a Republican, and state Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Democrat.
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Post.news.