Budget conference: Could Orlando institutions like Dr. Phillips Center and Orlando Museum of Art get state funding?

Several Orlando institutions from the art museum to the performing arts center and a group helping the homeless could get state funding — if the projects escape Gov. Ron DeSantis’ veto pen.

As the budget conference ended late Sunday, the House and Senate agreed to give $800,000 to the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The performing arts center is the marquee theater for traveling Broadway, the orchestra and other entertainment in downtown Orlando.  

“The project will modernize the decade-old Walt Disney Theater sound system to deliver world-class audio, improving clarity in every seat, reducing load-in time, lowering rental costs, and enhancing assisted-listening access,” according to the funding request made by Rep. David Smith, a Winter Springs Republican. “This investment protects revenue, keeps the venue competitive for first-run tours, and reinforces the Dr. Phillips Center as a premier cultural destination attracting audiences locally, statewide, and internationally.”

Other items Central Florida projects emerging from the budget include $750,000 for the Orlando Museum of Art, $350,000 for Shalom Orlando and $200,000 for the Samaritan Resource Center.

Rep. Erika Booth, a St. Cloud Republican, sought funding for the Orlando Museum of Art for “much needed repairs and upgrades to the roof, walls, and public spaces throughout the museum that were impacted by water intrusion and will ensure the $40 million art collection housed at the museum is protected,” according to her funding request.

Shalom Orlando’s $350,000 would be go for generator power backup for its three schools, Jewish Community Center, Adult Learning, Senior programming and the Holocaust Memorial Center, according to the funding request from Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat. Eskamani had originally asked for $700,000 for the project.

Eskamani also sought $200,000 for the Samaritan Resource Center to provide job training in hospitality and healthcare. The Orlando Center helps people who are homeless. 

Whether the projects in one of the bluest areas of the state will survive is one question to watch during the budget process.

DeSantis was recently open about how he uses his veto pen to punish lawmakers who defy his agenda.

“If the members are supporting good policy, then, you know, I see their budget items, that’s just something you take into account,” DeSantis said Thursday at a meeting of The Federalist Society.