Gov. Ron DeSantis’ veto of $32 million in cultural and museum grants and related funding rattled hundreds of organizations across Florida, with critics saying the move damages an almost $3 billion engine of the state’s tourist-powered economy.
The veto was among almost $950 million worth of programs and projects slashed by DeSantis, who signed a $116.5 billion state budget Wednesday for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
But it also has left some of the 577 arts programs and 33 facilities around the state who lost anticipated dollars scrambling to plug holes.
“We’ve spent the morning cutting things,” Bari Newport, the producing artistic director at GableStage, said Thursday. The longtime theater company’s work is staged at Coral Gables’ historic Biltmore Hotel.
Veto came as a shock
The $70,500 GableStage expected to receive from the state represents just under 3% of its $2.6 million budget, Newport said. But she added that the veto came as a shock as the theater’s budget must be finalized by Monday for the new budget year starting in July.
“We have other sources of income that keep us going,” she added. “But this state money helps us support artists, fund educational programs and it keeps tickets affordable for as many people as possible.”
GableStage is among the hundreds of community-oriented theater and arts programs that were poised to receive some level of state support until Wednesday’s $32 million veto by the governor.
The state’s…
