OLDSMAR, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke near Tampa on Tuesday to announce his budget requests for water restoration projects including to combat sea-level rise.
As part of a three-year plan, DeSantis is asking for the Legislature to sign off on $276 million for more than 76 projects across Florida.
"That is just the state's portion of it. There's almost always a local match for that," DeSantis said. "So, you're really looking at over $500 million of investments to support this type of infrastructure."
The governor said these projects will enable Florida to be more resilient against flooding, hurricanes and other natural disasters.
"There's going to be a whole host of other projects that are also going to be announced in the very near future for actually more money than what we're doing now," DeSantis said.
DeSantis said he believes Florida will spend around a billion in the next few years on these types of initiatives.
He is expected to unveil his full budget requests this week before lawmakers head back to the state Capitol for the upcoming legislative session.
"I think you're going to see we're probably going to have higher budget reserves than we've ever had in the history of the state of Florida in this coming year's budget," DeSantis said.
The governor made the announcement at R.E. Olds Park in Oldsmar.
DeSantis was joined by Florida DEP Secretary Shawn Hamilton and Chief Resilience Officer Dr. Wes Brooks.
