Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is traveling to Washington, D.C. to meet with the head of the federal agency. Desantis aims to ensure more funding and autonomy in Florida with a variety of projects, including the Everglades’ Agricultural Regional Reservoir.
Gov. Ron DeSantis hopes to fly to Washington, D.C. on Friday to meet with the heads of several federal agencies to persuade him to approve more money with less strings than the range of programs and projects. I’m here.
Desantis allowed the state to provide greater support in immigration law enforcement after signing a new contract between state law enforcement and US immigration and customs enforcement agencies.
One of the main projects is the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir. It is designed to store excess water before being handled from Lake Okeechobee and sent south to the Everglades. The reservoir smashed the ground under the US Army Corps of Engineers in 2023, but was not expected to be completed until 2034.
“Our request is to give us money, cut out the army and build up some damn things,” DeSantis told reporters Wednesday. “We’re going to make it much faster. We’re going to make it even better.”
Large-scale construction projects are considered essential to help prevent the discharge of contaminated water from the lake. The lake now runs on both sides of the lake, which raises waterways on both coasts and often produces massive killings of marine life. Florida has already spent nearly $300 million to build it, and the federal government is expected to pay the remaining $4 billion.
Another part of speeding up the progress of the EAA reservoir is not dependent on Environmental Protection Agency and Army Engineers, but Florida’s 404 program, which granted the state the authority to approve environmental project permits, Dasantis said. He said it was to revive the they. Last year, federal courts shattered the program.
“State officials only allow them to comply with federal law, but they will issue a permit if people are compliant with federal law,” Desantis said. “If it stays in the Army, it will take forever and it will affect commerce and the economy.”
DeSantis also hopes that the US Department of Commerce will allow Florida to manage the Red Snapper season in the Atlantic.
In higher education, Desantis plans to overhaul the U.S. Department of Education’s methods of assessing and selecting accredited entities to review universities and universities.
DeSantis has consistently warned of “left-wing indoctrination” in higher education, calling for laws that allow Florida schools to choose different accreditation bodies other than the university’s Southern Association Association and the University Committee’s Committee . Desantis sued the Ministry of Education on SACSCS in 2023, but the lawsuit was later dismissed.
And DeSantis said he would talk to health and human services officials about jumpstarting Florida’s program to import cheap drugs from Canada. At the same time, DeSantis acknowledged that it is unlikely that the Canadian government would approve the sale of the drug to the United States.
“They have been against this from the start because it’s a kind of golden geese for them,” DeSantis said. “They can have these discounted medicines and are basically subsidized by American consumers.”
Gray Rohrer is a reporter for the USA Today Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be contacted at grohrer@gannett.com. X: Follow him on @grayrohrer.
