(HorizonPost.com) – It was reported last week that Florida rejected approximately $350 million in green energy “incentives” from the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.
The Inflation Reduction Act sets includes money to provide rebates to consumers looking to purchase energy-efficient appliances or to help low-income consumers afford solar panels. But the Florida legislature and Governor Ron DeSantis have refused the money set aside to fund the programs, Politico reported.
Governor DeSantis also rejected $24 million in grants designated for Florida in the bipartisan Infrasture law, making him the first governor in the country to refuse the infrastructure spending funds.
According to Politico, officials from the Biden administration privately hope that the DeSantis administration will change course. The officials fear that rejecting funds from the Inflation Reduction Act might catch on among Republican governors, becoming a litmus test of sorts for fiscal conservatives the same way Medicaid expansion under Obamacare was a decade ago.
While Governor DeSantis was the first to reject the rebate funds earmarked in the Inflation Reduction Act, he wasn’t the last. So far, three other governors, Iowa’s Kim Reynolds, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, and Democrat Governor Any Beshear of Kentucky, have also turned down funding.
However, Governor DeSantis has not rejected all funding. Florida accepted a combined $82 million from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure law, according to Politico.
In a statement to the Daily Caller, White House spokesman Michael Kikukawa accused Florida officials of “putting politics ahead of delivering meaningful progress for hardworking Americans.”
However, the politics appears to be coming from the White House.
According to Politico, Florida rejecting the funding could potentially create a political problem for President Biden and members of his cabinet as they travel the country in the upcoming months to boast about the green energy spending in the Inflation Reduction Act and the president’s broader climate agenda.
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