Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, in response to the Governor’s proposed 2021-22 state budget, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried offered the following statement:
“Everyone recognizes the historically poor fiscal situation facing our state, which is why our department submitted a fiscally responsible $163 million budget request, a significant reduction from our $259 million 2020-21 request. This budget meets the bare minimum standards to operate our department’s wide-ranging responsibilities, from promoting Florida agriculture and feeding children to supporting our wildland firefighters and law enforcement personnel. The proposed budget mostly meets those bare minimums, but it’s disappointing that when our hardworking farmers and ranchers most need help due to hundreds of millions in losses, this budget proposes cutting Fresh From Florida funding not only $500,000 in the coming year, but actually takes back $680,000 from the current budget. With environmental protection being touted today as a priority, it’s also disappointing that one of Florida’s best environmental conservation tools would once again receive zero funding. We look forward to working with the Legislature to advocate for these common-sense priorities.”
