Florida For All’s Political Director Amina Spahić testified in opposition to SB 7040 “Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund” aka Let DeSantis Continue to Misuse Our Tax Dollars To Enrich His Donors during the Senate Appropriations Committee on February, 5, 2026.
The bill passed favorably and is hitting the Senate Floor for a final vote on on February 11 at 12pm. To call your elected officials and urge them to vote NO, visit www.flsenate.gov/senators.
Transcript
Thank you, Karen, for humanizing this issue.
(…)
I’m here today in opposition of this extension and the appropriation. I think most of you said it for me. We value transparency, efficient government spending, and of course, when Floridians face a real emergency, not a manufactured one like immigration, we want help from our government.
But this slush fund, as it’s been called, has been just that.
There were no-bid emergency procurement contracts triggered by emergency declarations, so they skipped any competitive bidding and went to companies whose CEOs have provided political support to the governor and allied political committees.
This is also the third largest expense in the fund after Hurricanes Ian and Hurricane Milton.
And I think that is such a tragic waste of taxpayer dollars.
When we do face real emergencies like hurricanes and people are struggling, that money could obviously be better spent.
These were not posted publicly as well, as required by Florida law, there is still some information that’s missing.
So the transparency is not even there.
Some of this money was sent, used to send Florida law enforcement to the Texas border with Mexico and fly migrants from the border to democratic led States.
Some have called this human trafficking.
And as an immigrant, this is particularly disturbing to me.
In addition to that, the preparedness activities and the money that’s supposed to be reimbursed, we’ve received none of that.
And we might not receive any of it, even though it’s been approved.
There are still lawsuits ongoing because the detention center in the Everglades was a rush job.
So this fund is no longer about hurricanes or emergencies.
It’s about preserving unchecked power.
It looks less like emergency management and more like corporate welfare.
So with all that being said,
I would really urge you to vote no and find another way to help Floridians when we’re facing real emergencies.
Thank you.
