Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
During a meeting of the Madison Lions Club on Tuesday, June 20, State Representative Allison Tant spoke to the service club about the previous legislative session. She also took time to address some specific appropriations that have a direct effect on Madison County.
Rep. Tant said that a $300,000 appropriation for North Florida College’s welding program made it into the budget, as well as $250,000 set aside for a new fire truck for Madison County Fire Rescue. Although, there was not funding specific to Madison County Memorial Hospital (MCMH), Rep. Tant said there was financial help set aside for rural hospitals. Rep. Tant said she made it clear she wanted MCMH to be at the head of the line when it came time for that funding to make it to the local level. One appropriation many in Madison County were hoping for was $1,000,000 to go toward a new livestock arena. Although this project made it through the legislature and into the budget, it fell prey to Gov. DeSantis’ veto pen. Rep. Tant said she discovered the reasoning was because the project lacked some specifics in terms of location, etc. She held out hope that with more details, the project could be revisited during another legislative session in the future. Rep. Tant also stated a horse arena in Jefferson County was also vetoed. “Any equestrian projects in the budget were vetoed,” said Rep. Tant.
Rep. Tant said updating the state’s infrastructure, especially housing and transportation, would be issues that will need to be of importance in future legislative sessions. “I’m not a big spending person,” said Rep. Tant. “With a budget surplus that we have, putting money towards these infrastructure items will be a good use of those funds, I think. We have an average of 900 people moving to Florida every day.”
The Madison Lions Club is the community’s longest continuously-serving organization, having been in existence for over 80 years. The club meets each Tuesday, at 12 p.m., at Cucinella’s Brick Oven Pizzeria, located at 201 SW Rutledge St., in Madison. Some of the many local charities and organizations supported by the club include: A Women’s Pregnancy Center, Boyz to Kings mentorship program, the Madison County Schools, MCMH, the Madison Garden Club’s efforts to beautify Four Freedoms Park, as well as programs to feed the elderly and needy families of Madison County during the holiday season, and much more.