Funding for Pulse memorial up in the air

TALLAHASSEE — Money for a memorial to honor victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub mass shooting in Orlando was included in budget talks late Wednesday night, one day after lawmakers zeroed out funding for the project.

In the original Senate budget passed earlier in the legislative session, there was $245,000 for the project, which is still in the planning stages, but the House had no money in its spending plan.

Orlando-area lawmakers had sought $2 million from the state for the $21.6 million project. Local governments and private donors are slated to pay for the remaining costs.

In Tuesday evening negotia

tions between the House and Senate, leaders in both chambers zeroed out funding for the memorial. That caught Orlando lawmakers off guard, who were hoping to keep at least some money in continuing talks.

A Senate counteroffer made Wednesday evening proffers $500,000 for the memorial. Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, said there’s an agreement with House leaders.

“I think we’ve got it straightened out,” Stewart said. “They think they’ve worked out a deal.”

But top House economic development budget writer Rep. Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, said that while he’s considering the offer, nothing has been agreed to ye.

Funding for the project was a priority for local legislators, who noted the Legislature included $1 million for a memorial for the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland as part of the school safety and gun control bill passed in response to the tragedy.

“A big part of this for us is parity,” said Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando. “It’s another chance for the state to get this right. Forty-nine mostly queer, black and brown people were murdered in downtown Orlando and nothing happened.”