Trump hits DeSantis for $100 million farming veto: ‘complete disaster’
Lydia Nusbaum contributed to this report.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (FLV) – Former President Donald Trump knocked Gov. Ron DeSantis for potentially being a “complete disaster” for American and Iowan farmers if elected president.
“His record on agriculture is terrible because he is totally owned by the globalist donors who would like nothing more than to outsource every American farming job to a foreign nation,” Trump said.
Trump referenced DeSantis’ veto to the tune of around $100 million that would’ve gone to the Acquisition Trust Fund for the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program.
“He really hurt the farmers badly – stabbed the farmers right in the back,” Trump continued. “Nobody should be able to do what he did and nobody should be able to get away with it.”
“He did bad for the farmers and he’ll do bad for the farmers of Iowa,” the former president said. “We will put farmers first and we will put America first. We will also make America great again.”
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The allocation vetoed by the governor was a priority for Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.
“There is no conceivable reason to target agriculture in a year when we have billions of dollars in reserves,” Simpson said in response to the veto in June. “Agriculture was harmed today and so was the State of Florida.”
When asked why the money was vetoed, the press secretary for the governor’s office, Jeremy Redfern, noted that the governor approved $300 million last year for the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program, which he said could be used the following fiscal year.
The governor’s office also pointed to DeSantis and the Florida cabinet approving $103 million to conserve land through the Florida Forever and Rural and Family Lands Protection programs.
“At a minimum, $240 million remains available for the program moving into the upcoming fiscal year,” Redfern said.
The agriculture department said the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program maintains the agriculture land base in Florida through the acquisition of permanent agriculture land conservation easements.
“Agriculture is a $180 billion economic engine for Florida,” Simpson said. “The ability to produce a safe, affordable, and abundant food supply is a matter of State and National Security, especially as we welcome 1,000 new residents every day.”
Simpson called the program “critical” to the Wildlife Corridor.
He said the program keeps agriculture lands in the hands of farmers “who maintain the land at no cost to taxpayers.”
The governor’s office said that the governor and Florida cabinet would need to approve a new priority list following the agriculture department’s next application cycle.
“Until then, projects authorized for purchase must be included on the 2018 priority list,” Redfern said. “Given those facts, the Governor made the prudent decision to continue to support the program through the remaining resources that will roll into next year’s budget.”
The governor’s office also said $976 million was allocated for conservation and recreation land acquisition.
