Gov. Ron DeSantis said he was willing to wait for the state to get paid back for propping up “Alligator Alcatraz” in a South Florida airfield, saying people shouldn’t have expected the federal government to send money quickly given its historic leisurely pace in post-hurricane reimbursement.
“This is obviously manufactured,” DeSantis said of the concern during a press conference in Naples.
The state doesn’t appear likely to get most of the money it doled out to handle a federal mission. Florida was counting on $608 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), money Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a court filing may not actually “materialize.”
The Department of Justice says any reimbursement would cover “operational costs,” not the estimated $245 million spent on “construction or facility modification,” suggesting that the infrastructural costs will come at the expense of traditional priorities of the state, such as health care, corrections, infrastructure and funding nonprofits.
DeSantis expressed optimism that Kristi Noem’s removal as head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may move things along, saying that while “FEMA reimbursements always take” time, “the turnover in the leadership of DHS” may expedite the process. He mocked people who expected to get paid back in “60 days.”
It’s unclear why the expected confirmation of replacement Markwayne Mullin, a Senator from Oklahoma, would somehow speed that up.
Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie previously said U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, a former two-term Florida AG, has held up the clawback. DeSantis did not address that allegation Thursday.
While Floridians bear the collective costs, some contractors enjoy windfalls, including the evocatively named Doodie Calls, which scored $92 million for porta-potties.
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