DeSantis’ budget will cancel a Black business loan program.
According to the Miami Herald, DeSantis’ $115.6 billion budget is merely a recommendation, Florida’s Republican legislative body will create the actual budget in March when they call for the state’s two-month legislative session.
Lawmakers, who balked at this proposal, instead passed a bill stripping DeSantis of most of his ability to enforce immigration in the State of Florida.
This arrangement has led DeSantis to look intently at paring down the state’s spending, but notably, not in his own office, which is projected to grow by approximately $11 million.
In service of this ideal, according to Florida Politics, DeSantis’ budget, which he has titled “Focus on Fiscal Responsibility,” will cancel the $2.2 million Black Business Loan Program, a program that Black business owners rely on to help them access capital which they are often denied by conventional lending institutions.
In addition to this, DeSantis’ budget also maintains the elimination of the Broadband, Equity Access, and Development Grant Program, a program that helps to ensure equal access to the internet in areas that typically have a deficiency in that area.
According to House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, DeSantis’ proposed budget is not designed to help Florida residents deal with the rising costs of living, but to drive headlines.
“The Governor’s budget proposal focuses on grabbing headlines and trying to keep him relevant in the national spotlight while leaving Florida’s families behind,” the Democratic Representative said in a statement to the Miami Herald.
This is in part, due to the work of the South Florida Black Chamber of Commerce, whose work spotlighting agencies who will work with Black owned businesses looks to be crucial with the elimination of Florida’s state funding.
As Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s chief analyst, told CBS News, “Black applicants who apply for credit are about twice as likely to be denied credit or be approved for less credit. The more that organizations like the Black Chamber of Commerce can do, the better, because the need is certainly there.”
RELATED CONTENT: Judge Permanently Blocks Workplace Training Portion Of Florida’s Racist Stop WOKE Act
Source: Black Enterprise
