When Governor Ron DeSantis signed Florida’s 2020-21 state budget on Monday, he vetoed a record $1 billion in state projects, including two at FAMU.
The 18-page veto list included $200,000 in operational funding meant to help jumpstart the FAMU Brooksville Agricultural Environmental Research Station (BAERS0, a 3,812 acre farm located in Brooksville, FL, just outside Tampa. FAMU had been seeking state support of the farm since gaining control of the property in 2015.
The site includes 19 buildings, 2,830 sq feet of laboratory space, and 3,60 sq ft of office space. When FAMU gained control of the property it was considered the largest single land transfer ever from the federal government to a HBCU.
DeSantis, also vetoed $200,000 to create an immersive Mandarin Chinese language program at FAMU. The program was designed to expose FAMU students to one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.
The 18-page veto list included $200,000 in operational funding meant to help jumpstart the FAMU Brooksville Agricultural Environmental Research Station (BAERS0, a 3,812 acre farm located in Brooksville, FL, just outside Tampa. FAMU had been seeking state support of the farm since gaining control of the property in 2015.
The site includes 19 buildings, 2,830 sq feet of laboratory space, and 3,60 sq ft of office space. When FAMU gained control of the property it was considered the largest single land transfer ever from the federal government to a HBCU.
DeSantis, also vetoed $200,000 to create an immersive Mandarin Chinese language program at FAMU. The program was designed to expose FAMU students to one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Mandarin is considered an important language in the business world and increases students opportunities for employment.
The Governor was forced to make deep cuts to the 2020-21 state budget to cover more than $2 billion lost state revenue from the coronavirus pandemic.