JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan spoke out against last-minute additions to the city budget on Monday, arguing they are distractions meant to divide the city.
Action News Jax told you Friday when the finance committee added in language into the budget to prohibit city funds from being spent on diversity, equity and inclusion, immigrants without legal status in the country and abortion.
Councilmember Rory Diamond (R-District 13) pushed for all three amendments.
“We’re saying no, Donna, there will be no money for DEI. No, Donna, there will be no money for abortions. No, Donna, there will be no money for illegal immigration,” said Diamond during a Monday press conference.
The language was added into the proposed budget months after Mayor Donna Deegan vetoed legislation that would have prevented the city from contracting with organizations that offer services to immigrants without legal status.
A vote by the council to override that veto failed.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
“All of these things were put in simply to basically throw a grenade in the middle of the process,” said Deegan on Monday.
The mayor argued the policy items have no business in the city budget and only aim to sow division.
“It is a distraction from what we’re actually dealing with here, like so much of what we’re talking about right now,” said Deegan.
But it’s not clear whether the mayor could use her line-item veto authority to remove those spending restrictions individually, or whether she’d have to veto the entire budget to push back.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me that you could put something into the budget that is not a spending issue, first of all. But if you can, then why couldn’t you also veto that provision?” said Deegan. ”We’re waiting on hearing from the General Counsel on that.”
Line-item vetoes only take a simple majority vote of council to override, which wouldn’t likely be a difficult hurdle for the Republican supermajority to overcome.
But if the mayor vetoes the full budget, it’s unclear whether a two-thirds majority would be needed.
Council President Kevin Carrico (R-District 4), who supported the spending restriction amendments, said the council is still seeking answers to those questions.
“Obviously, the mayor is not going to want to support those items. It’s going to be counterproductive to her political lens, which is different than my political lens and a lot of the members on council. So, we’ll see,” said Carrico.
One thing is certain, failure to approve a budget before the start of the next fiscal year would not lead to any type of local government shutdown.
If there’s no new spending plan in place by October 1st, city funding will simply continue at its current levels until a new budget is passed.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
