{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://castor.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=404426", "U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor Leads FL Democrats in Urging Gov. DeSantis End His Grinch-Like Blockade of Transportation $$", "2023-12-21", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "House", "FL", "Kathy Castor", "C001066", "castor.house.gov", "castor", "https://castor.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "TAMPA, FL \u2013 U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14) and members of the Florida Democratic Congressional Delegation are urging Gov. DeSantis to reverse his Grinch-like decision to reject $320 million to reduce carbon pollution and improve Florida\u2019s transportation network under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law\u2019s (BIL) Carbon Reduction Program (CRP). The lawmakers\u2019 letter follows reporting that the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) fully intended to implement a plan to improve the state\u2019s infrastructure through public transit, safe rest stop areas and reduced congestion until DeSantis pulled the plug. The DeSantis turnabout landed like a lump of coal in a Christmas stocking, as Florida is the only state in the country to reject the funds.\n\n\u201cThis decision constitutes a stark policy reversal, following months of FDOT planning and the development of the state\u2019s Carbon Reduction Strategy, a prerequisite step for Florida to receive the program\u2019s $320 million in funding. FDOT\u2019s own documents outline the importance of the Carbon Reduction Program \u2014 and the investments it would have provided \u2014 to the state\u2019s transportation goals. Such goals include: providing safe and convenient transportation options, improving traffic flow and reducing congestion and idling, improving energy efficiency, and reducing climate impacts.\u201d\n\nThe lawmakers continued, \u201cPlainly, your repeated rejection of federal investment opportunities will lead our state to a future with more traffic fatalities, higher energy and transportation costs, and worse air pollution. The people of Florida deserve answers, and they deserve a Governor who will not sacrifice the best interests of our state to further an extreme agenda.\u201d\n\nRead the full letter here.\n\nGov. DeSantis\u2019 rejection of $320 million in carbon reduction infrastructure investments makes Florida the only state in the nation to reject federal CRP funding. The Governor\u2019s decision followed FDOT\u2019s months-long planning and coordination with stakeholders on how to best utilize the funding for Florida\u2019s needs, including a public meeting and presentation on the critical need for this funding and a comprehensive plan to meet the needs of Florida communities \u2013 all of which have been deleted from FDOT\u2019s website following FDOT Secretary Perdue\u2019s letter rejecting the funding.\n\nSigners of the letter to Gov. DeSantis include: Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Darren Soto (FL-09), Maxwell Frost (FL-10) and Lois Frankel (FL-22).", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://castor.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=404426"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.578976098448038, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}