ST. PETERSBURG -- An update on Red Tide from Gov. DeSantis.
Speaking in St. Petersburg, the governor says he's seeing a "definite improvement" in conditions along the Pinellas beaches, and says actions he's put into place since taking office are working---including a dedicated funding source to respond to Red Tide blooms.
DeSantis pushed back at a reporter's question as to whether he had "politicized" red tide. He insisted that the call for a state of emergency -- issued by Mayor Rick Kriseman, who wasn't at the event -- was an attempt at making the algae event political.
The governor said that, thanks to his initiative on red tide and funding from the Legislature, there was money set aside. Two million dollars have been sent to Pinellas and St. Pete, and more is on the way if needed. DeSantis and other speakers said that declaring a state of emergency would simply burden business owners, by drawing more bad out-of-state publicity, presumably meaning tourists would cancel plans to visit Pinellas.
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