DeSantis awards $5.5M infrastructure grant to Plant City for loop construction

UMATILLA, Fla. (WFLA) — Governor DeSantis announced a major influx of infrastructure spending to two Florida cities while speaking in Umatilla on Tuesday.

DeSantis awarded $5.5 million to Plant City for the construction of a 2.75-mile loop extension of Henderson Way, allowing access to approximately 310 acres of commercial and light industrial development sites. The project is expected to bring more than 2,600 new jobs to the Plant City area and support the retention of nearly 1,000 existing jobs, the governor said.

The governor also awarded $4.8 million to Umatilla for infrastructure improvements and increased water and sewer capacity at Lake Ferns Industrial Park. The governor’s office said the project is expected to create 300 new high-wage jobs in the advanced manufacturing and construction material industries.

During the news conference, DeSantis took a moment to boast about Florida’s spending.

“The budget I signed that starts July 1 actually spends less than the current budget does,” the governor said.

DeSantis also claimed Florida has the lowest debt per capita in the nation, a claim that doesn’t line up with a 2023 report from Forbes.

The Forbes report said Florida was the 28th most indebted state out of 50, based on housing and government debt per capita. Oklahoma ranked as the least indebted state.

DeSantis also criticized the Biden administration’s border policy, claiming illegal immigration put a serious burden on American citizens.

Earlier this month, Biden announced a major border crackdown, issuing an executive order after Republicans and Democrats couldn’t work out a bipartisan border bill. After the border crackdown, border officials reported significantly lower numbers of encounters with migrants between ports of entry at the southwest border.

DeSantis also aimed shots at recreational marijuana, which is on the ballot in Florida for 2024. The Florida governor said the amendment on the ballot is misleading and questioned why anyone would vote for it.

“Who would vote on something they don’t even get a chance to read?”

The question echoed arguments from Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who urged the Florida Supreme Court to keep the amendment off the ballot because was “vague and misleading” and would “mislead voters.”

In April, the Florida Supreme Court rejected the state’s attempts to bar the amendment but chose not to release its opinion on the ruling.

DeSantis ended the press conference by awarding the Medal of Merit to Mel Jenner, who served during D-Day. Mel joined the National Guard as a teenager and was a pilot who gathered intelligence along the French Coast in the 1940’s.

Mel also served at the start of the Cold War, became a Chief master sergeant in 1966, and retired in 1968.

You can watch the news conference live on the video player above.

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