Gov. Ron DeSantis gave no explanation for zeroing out the $32 million in grants that were approved by state lawmakers.

Leaders of arts organizations in Florida, many of whom have worked in the state for decades, cannot remember a governor ever eliminating all of their grant funding. Even in the lean years of the Great Recession, at least a nominal amount — say, 5 percent of the recommended total — was approved.

Established arts organizations usually know better than to overly rely on nonrecurring state dollars subject to the discretion of politicians, said Michael Tomor, executive director of the Tampa Museum of Art. But to cut funding at a time when arts organizations are still struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic sends a concerning message “that taxpayer dollars should not be used in support of arts and culture,” he added.

Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, gave no explanation for zeroing out the arts grants. His office said in a statement that he made veto decisions “that are in the best interests of the State of Florida.”

In all, Mr. DeSantis vetoed nearly $950 million in proposed spending and proclaimed that the remaining $116.5 billion came in under the previous year’s budget.

Non-paywall link

  • blarth@thelemmy.club
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    11 days ago

    If the goal is to destroy art culture in Florida, I guess the Russian psyops have done their work.

    Enjoy brutalist, colorless Florida in a couple of generations.

  • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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    12 days ago

    Because arts uplift, and misery is a huge part of the engine of fascism

    Well adjusted societies have less temptation for it on the pro side, and a lot stronger and more inspired resistance to it from the anti side. It needs to breed sickness in order to really take hold and thrive.

    I doubt DeSantis has that much of an organized plan for it, of course; I think it’s simple mean spirited ness on his part that he happened to see some vulnerable people that he can punish.

      • meeeeetch@lemmy.world
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        12 days ago

        Not entirely true, they can’t get enough of art that is exactly like the things they already like. A boring landscape that could have been painted a century earlier? They love that shit.

        But if you dare try to get creative (with message or medium) they will demand your head.

  • sarcasticsunrise@lemmy.world
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    12 days ago

    This high heeled tough guy wannabe is the living embodiment of poor and spiteful decision making. Nothing he does helps anybody. It’s fascinating really. Everyday I wake up I count my blessings I escaped that shit hole state

    • Tryptaminev@lemm.ee
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      12 days ago

      Fascist 101:

      Blame minorities

      Get to Power

      Make things worse for everyone

      Blame minorities harder

      Manifest more power

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      Nothing he does helps anybody.

      He’s been a real boon for the state’s money laundering, human trafficking, landlord profiteering, and fossil fuel industries.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    12 days ago

    Yeah, I get it. When has the world ever become a better place when nations fund artworks?

    Look at this Florentine shit:

    That is what you get when a nation’s leader becomes a patron of the arts. Is that sort of smut what you want our kids seeing?

  • adam_y@lemmy.world
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    12 days ago

    You can’t defund social welfare programmes without defunding the arts first. To defund healthcare you have to defund the arts. To defund schools, you first have to defund the arts.

    You know where this is going.

    The arts are the canary and it is lying dead at the bottom of the cage.

    • Steve@communick.news
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      12 days ago

      To defund healthcare you have to defund the arts.
      To defund schools, you first have to defund the arts.

      Why are the arts required to be done first, or at all? I’m not seeing it. They seem separate, and doable in any order.

      • adam_y@lemmy.world
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        12 days ago

        That’s a fair question.

        The arts are seen as a luxury and a frippery. They are also seen as elitist.

        If you want to defund public services and remain popular, the playbook is to remove the arts first. That way you are demonstrating the order of needs.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      When does his tenure as governor end?

      He’s obligated to take a two year hiatus from his current position at the end of eight years. But he’s free to run for another office during the downtime.

      That’s why Rick Scott became a Senator after his gubernatorial tenure.

  • Chozo@fedia.io
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    12 days ago

    How much you wanna bet that somebody tied to the arts recently emasculated Ron in public? Pulling funding from a huge swath of people over a petty personal embarrassment is a very on-brand move for DeSantis.

    • limelight79@lemm.ee
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      12 days ago

      Is there a perception that arts are more likely to have gay and lesbian people? Dumbass would do anything to hurt them.

      • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
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        Not even that the arts have more gay people, but people involved in the arts are much more likely to be accepting and fair to gay people. So they want to hurt these people too. This is maybe overused but I think it’s appropriate and I think about it a lot:

        First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

        Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

        Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

        Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

        —Martin Niemöller

        This guy originally supported Hitler. He said this after the war.

  • Marthirial@lemmy.world
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    12 days ago

    Florida and her meatball will be textbook evidence of a failed state swallowed by the Ocean and drowned by social conservatism terrorism.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      failed state swallowed by the Ocean

      Not for another 40-150 years. By then local politics will have shifted substantially in the state, and future external fascists can claim Florida was destroyed for being too brown, woke, and gay.

      • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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        12 days ago

        Florida woke and brown? Half the state literally needs to take a nap, and the only brown is in their Depends.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          Florida has one of the highest Latin and African American populations in the country. They just aren’t allowed to vote.

          And over half of the under 18 population of Florida is non-white. In another twenty years it will be majority minority.

          By the time to state is fully fucked by climate change, you’re going to see reactionaries in the Midwest having a field day saying the state failed because it turned into “Detroit” wink wink nudge nudge

    • uis@lemm.ee
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      11 days ago

      This sounds like social regressivism rather than terrorism.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        12 days ago

        #1 for education

        This is the same Florida where the governor has already gotten rid of some AP courses and has suggested getting rid of them completely, right?

        https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2023/02/14/desantis-florida-ap-courses-college-board-feud/11250682002/

        This is also the same Florida that now teaches children that black people learned useful skills when they were slaves, right?

        https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-florida-standards-teach-black-people-benefited-slavery-taught-usef-rcna95418

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          OP is being dishonest about it too. It’s #1 for higher education in Florida, #10 for K-12. And I’m not sure where they get #10 from because it looks like it’s marginally above average based on their own numbers.

          In fact, as far as I can tell, their whole metric for #1 is because Florida college students end up in less debt than in other states. And that is great, don’t get me wrong, but not exactly the best education metric.

          It’s a bit silly that Florida ranks above states like Massachusetts and California when it comes to higher education. I don’t know that any Florida university comes close to Harvard or CalTech. Cheaper, sure. A better quality education? I doubt it.

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              I hadn’t even looked into it after seeing how bogus the education numbers were, but that also doesn’t shock me.

              It also occurred to me that their main metric for K-12 education was high school graduation rate and since there’s no national education standards, that can mean different things for different states. The other metric was a math score based on something I’ve never heard of, but it was not a test my 14-year-old here in Indiana has taken yet and it’s not the SATs.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                  12 days ago

                  And a lot of those citizens are retirees from other states who can afford to retire in Florida. So of course they’re more likely to hold degrees.

      • Etterra@lemmy.world
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        12 days ago

        Well he’s already axing that 1% in education by cutting all the arts funding. Science will probably be next.

      • solomon42069@lemmy.world
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        A short boost from tax breaks to convince rich people to move there doesn’t make the place financially successful or livable. It just looks better for a bit.

        • Gloomy@mander.xyz
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          12 days ago

          The category is a bit wider than that, but yes, low taxes seem to contribute.

          https://www.richstatespoorstates.org/states/FL/

          Edit:

          Did a little digging after some flaws have been pointed out by @Silentia below. This source is not neutral.

          https://ballotpedia.org/ALEC_Rich_States,_Poor_States_Report

          The American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonpartisan organization of state legislators, releases an annual report entitled Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index, which analyzes economic competitiveness in each state. The report is authored by Arthur Laffer, Stephen Moore (chief economist at the Heritage Foundation), and Jonathan Williams, the director of the Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council

          The Heritage Foundation is a conservative 501©(3) nonprofit think tank founded in 1973 and based in Washington, D.C.[1] In 2013, The Atlantic described the organization as “the de facto policy arm of the congressional conservative caucus.”[

          • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            11 days ago

            I’m assuming that’s the Laffer behind “the Laffer curve,” AKA the unscientific bullshit “graph” he drew on a cocktail napkin that would essentially become the basis for supply-side economics AKA “trickle down.”

            That Laffer?

            Because ruining the US economy and setting us on a 3+ decade ride towards record (and frankly inhumane) income inequality once just wasn’t enough I guess.

            Fucking ghouls.

  • Snapz@lemmy.world
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    11 days ago

    I hope some of the “artists” that make those photos of “trump” with shirt off and a fake chiseled, glistening physique get unintentionally caught up in this grant cancellation - you know these images, the ones they stare at for hours while locked in the bathroom thinking about how straight they are.

    • uis@lemm.ee
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      11 days ago

      Ha! The last line!

      At least he’s not on a bear. And bear is not on him.