{"id":135778,"date":"2026-01-29T02:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T02:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/135778\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T02:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T02:04:09","slug":"florida-gov-candidates-spar-ingoglia-takes-on-st-pete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/135778\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida gov candidates spar; Ingoglia takes on St. Pete"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rep. Byron Donalds and former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner spar on X over school choice legislation, and Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia asserts that St. Pete over spent $49 million over six years.<\/p>\n

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\nFlorida Republican governor candidates spar over school choice legislation<\/p>\n

When it comes to school choice, Florida law provides universal choice education scholarships to cover almost $9,000 in private school vouchers. The legislation that created the voucher program became a flash point today in the governor\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

It started with a social media post by Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for governor.<\/p>\n

He was in Tallahassee where he used to serve as a lawmaker and took credit for passing school choice bills. But one of Donalds\u2019 opponents in the Republican primary for governor, former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, took issue with that.<\/p>\n

Every parent deserves a choice & every child deserves a chance.<\/p>\n

Today, I was back at the State Capitol in Tallahassee where as a State Rep, my bill, HB 1 \u2014 \u201cThe Hope Scholarship\u201d became law & was one of the largest expansions of School Choice.<\/p>\n

Happy National School Choice Week! pic.twitter.com\/VWyVMmIOa3<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) January 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHey everybody. I\u2019m actually back in Tallahassee and in my time at the state House.\u201d Donalds said Wednesday on X. \u201cWe were arguing for universal choice and we got that passed during my time in the Florida House. It\u2019s National School Choice Week, and we want to make sure that everybody understands that our number one mission is to make sure that every child, regardless of zip code, is getting the best education possible. So it\u2019s actually kind of ironic that I\u2019m back here in Tallahassee, kind of where it all began to a degree, where we argued for school choice here. Delivered universal school choice here. We want to see that same thing happen for every child in America. God bless you guys. Take it easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

.@ByronDonalds<\/a>, you\u2019re lying. https:\/\/t.co\/EaFM9cCyC1<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/QCfKenUVxF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Paul Renner (@Paul_Renner) January 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cByron, you know that\u2019s a lie. Let\u2019s have an honest campaign with voters. So I wake up this morning to see Congressman Donalds on video, literally claiming that he was here in the Florida House when we passed Universal School Choice,\u201d Renner said on X. \u201cByron, you know that\u2019s a lie because I passed universal school choice in 2023. You were nowhere near Tallahassee. You passed the Hope scholarship HB one, which was political theater and barely moved the needle. That was not universal school choice. And you know it. I know you have a thin, thin record both in the House and in Congress, but do me a favor and don\u2019t run on mine. Let\u2019s have an honest campaign with voters. Let\u2019s tell them about my experience and yours, my record and yours, and let them make a decision. Honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia asserts that St. Pete government overspent $49 million over 6 years<\/p>\n

Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia held a press conference in St. Pete today, saying that the city has overtaxed and overspent more than $49 million over a 6-year period.<\/p>\n

Ingoglia said he reached that number by looking at the base budget plus inflation plus population, and says what should be an \u201cacceptable budget growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says the city has only added just over 11,500 to the population, and says that the budget for the city grew by $133 million.<\/p>\n

However, he did not get into specifics of exactly what the city overspent on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the number that when we took their old budget, adjusted for inflation and population and compared it to what it actually was, that you are being overtaxed in our estimation $49 million dollars that\u2019s a lot money for a relatively small budget,\u201d Ingoglia said.<\/p>\n

The CFO said that his office has been auditing cities across the state and reports that it has found more than a billion dollars in overspending and overtaxing.<\/p>\n

St. Pete Mayor Kenneth T. Welch responded to the allegations in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, Florida\u2019s CFO asserted statements about the City of St. Petersburg\u2019s budget and said that any response or rebuttal from local government would just be a \u2018spin.\u2019 He made it clear that any clarification or correction would be local governments \u2018justifying excessive and wasteful spending.\u2019 We just received the report and while we work to verify his statements, the City of St. Petersburg remains transparent throughout our budget process. As we do every year, all year round, we encourage residents with questions about the City\u2019s budget to review the documents posted on our website at\u00a0www.stpete.org\/budget,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n