Arts Vetoes a Matter of Taste

Don’t expect Republicans to override governor’s arts vetoes, our Capitol Columnist writes.


File photo: Lynchburg, Virginia USA – April 14, 2023 – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaking at Liberty University on April 14, 2023.

Home » Opinion
Posted July 11, 2024 | Bill Cotterell
Florida News Service

Governments spend a lot of money on things that are subject to popular opinion, but everybody can usually agree if the public is getting what it’s paying for — like it or not.

That’s not always true about funding of arts and cultural programs. No two taxpayers will agree on the artistic significance or cultural value of every festival, exhibit, concert or pageant that draws some subsidy, big or small, from taxpayers.

And some people will insist the arts should never get a farthing from the public treasury. Let Bill Gates or Andrew Carnegie underwrite the museums, theaters and galleries. Our tax money should go for things with immediate, tangible benefit.

One such skeptic is Gov. Ron DeSantis, who vetoed $32 million in arts funding last month as he signed the new state budget. Actually, he red-lined nearly $1 billion in items he believed the state could do without, but the arts and culture vetoes sparked the most outcry.

It’s barely a blip in a budget of $116.5 billion, but that’s not a consideration likely to sway conservative Republicans. There’ll be no attempt at overriding the governor’s decisions.

Throwing hundreds of arts and cultural alliances into a fiscal panic will probably cost DeSantis up to 15, maybe even 20, votes if he runs for something again. That’s the first factor governors look for in line-item vetoes. Voters who are upset by the arts ax wouldn’t vote for DeSantis, or probably any other Trump-supporting Republican, at gunpoint.

So politically, the vetoes are a can’t-lose situation for DeSantis. They irritated people who already don’t like him and appealed to folks like the parents who objected to photos of Michelangelo’s David at a Tallahassee school last year.

Wasteful spending, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

When the Florida Highway Patrol buys big Dodge Challengers instead of Ford Mustangs, you and I can disagree about the choice. But there’s no denying that those things are, in fact, cars.

It’s the same when the state builds a school, buys some wetlands or gets an airplane — we may think it’s a good deal or a waste of money, but we know whatever is being acquired is what it purports to be.

Not so with art or cultural events. An exhibit of my culture, history and societal contributions is educational. Celebrating yours is pandering to some ethnic, gender or artistic niche.

When workers dug the vast foundation for Florida’s 22-story state Capitol 50 years ago, they had to fence off the huge hole. So the state invited all 67 counties to take an expanse of plywood fencing and draw murals of their cities, beaches, farmlands and wilderness. Some paintings were beautiful, and some were hideous, and none of it improved with a couple of years of wind, rain and frequent bumping by bulldozers and trucks. But nobody wanted to say, “Get that mess out of here.” Elected politicians make poor curators.

A couple of weeks after signing this year’s budget, DeSantis was asked about vetoing the arts money. He cited some “Fringe Festival” funding among all the regular culture goodies.

“We didn’t have control over how it was being given,” he said. “So you’re having your tax dollars being given in grants to things like the Fringe Festival, which is like a sexual festival where they’re doing all this stuff.

“How many of you think your tax dollars should go to fund that? Not very many people would do that.”

The USA Today/Florida network reported the state has four “Fringe Festivals,” which sometimes include adult themes and drag performances. That’s out of 577 arts and cultural programs, including 33 community theaters, museums and other activities, affected by the budget vetoes.

Politico Florida noted that grants are made from a ranked list, and a $150,000 item for the Orlando Fringe Festival and $15,000 for one in Tampa were ranked low on that roster — probably not making the cut this year.

But anything with “drag” on the agenda reaches DeSantis’ desk with a heavy presumption against it. And if it’s a choice between funding something that’s a matter of taste, or adding another $32 million to the veto total, you can pretty much predict what he’ll do.

Bill Cotterell is a retired capitol reporter for United Press International and the Tallahassee Democrat. He can be reached at [email protected]

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