Florida emergency managers usually watch the radar.
Jared Perdue may want a calculator.
Watch report from Forrest Saunders
The longtime Florida Department of Transportation secretary is now pulling double duty as the state’s new emergency management director. He took over after Kevin Guthrie resigned during hurricane season to join Lt. Gov. Jay Collins’ unsuccessful campaign for governor.
At his first press conference in the new role, Perdue promised both agencies would keep moving.
“We have a very well-oiled machine and a lot of great people at FDOT,” Perdue said. “We’re going to continue that operation, and the good news is FDOT and the Division of Emergency Management have been working shoulder to shoulder for years.”
That relationship has helped Florida clear roads and rebuild bridges after hurricanes. Perdue’s first cleanup job, however, involves paper rather than debris.
A dozen Democratic lawmakers say FDEM has failed to provide a required accounting of its Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund, the state’s financial war chest for disasters and other declared emergencies.
The fund has faced mounting scrutiny over how broadly it has been used. Earlier reporting found that more than $4.7 billion had flowed through it since 2022, prompting lawmakers to debate tighter controls.
The Legislature ultimately approved SB 7040, which required FDEM to begin filing quarterly reports with the Senate president and House speaker on July 15.
Those reports must include the fund’s projected year-end balance, an updated cash-flow statement, pending and received federal reimbursements, an itemized accounting of purchased assets and a list of unpaid invoices.
In an Aug. 25 letter to Perdue, lawmakers said the first report never arrived and is now 41 days overdue.
“It’s just unacceptable for the people of Florida to not have a clear breakdown, a clear understanding of how money in this fund is being spent,” said Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, who organized the letter.
FDEM told lawmakers it transmitted information on July 28. Eskamani and the other signers said the materials consisted of five spreadsheets cataloging disaster spending across several years, but did not include the inventory, assets and pending invoices required under the new law. Only one spreadsheet addressed immigration-related spending, according to the letter.
The missing details matter because the fund has increasingly been used outside traditional hurricane response.
Lawmakers say approximately $566 million was spent on immigration enforcement during the last fiscal year. An earlier FDEM annual report showed more than $573 million in immigration-related spending since 2023, including detention facilities, aircraft, vehicles and deployments of Florida personnel to Texas. The story here..
Florida has sought federal money to cover much of that cost. Previous court filings raised questions about whether the state would receive the full $608 million reimbursement it expected and whether federal money could cover construction expenses, according to earlier reporting..
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that more than $100 million has now been repaid and that the overdue report is moving through the administration.
“My understanding is it’s been done,” DeSantis said. “It’s going through internal review, but Jared’s going to do that, as well as look at other things. I think that you have an opportunity to get a fresh set of eyes.”
DeSantis also argued that Florida’s multibillion-dollar reserves mean the state is not facing an immediate cash crunch.
The lawmakers’ letter acknowledges that the July deadline passed before Perdue assumed control of FDEM. Still, it asks him to provide the complete report by the end of August, explain the delay, account for outstanding contractor obligations and reconcile federal reimbursements that have been requested, approved, received, denied or remain pending.
Eskamani said she remains hopeful Perdue will comply but indicated lawmakers are considering their next steps.
“I’m optimistic, but candidly, we also have legal teams, if necessary, to put more pressure on the agency,” she said.
Perdue’s first major forecast at FDEM has no wind, rain or cone of uncertainty. It is a transparency deadline moving in fast.
Challenges over Florida's school bus and school speed zone camera face setbacks as legal battles continue
Cameras catching drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses or speed through school zones are generating millions of citations across Florida — and a growing wave of legal challenges.
