Turkey list: Florida TaxWatch finds $855M in budget ‘turkeys’
It’s turkey season in Tallahassee, and the turkeys are thriving.
This year, Florida TaxWatch, a taxpayer watchdog group, found 450 budget projects totaling $854.6 million they deem to be “turkeys” — more commonly known as pork barrel spending or member projects. That’s a 43% increase over last year, when the group found $598.7 million in turkeys.
The overall budget this year is $117.5 billion. Lawmakers have yet to formally send the budget (HB 5001) to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“When considering the budget, we strongly encourage Gov. DeSantis to assess each project we flagged — Turkey or otherwise — and determine whether its funding is counter to good budgeting practices; it addresses a core state...
