GOP’s Red Meat Revue (news roundup- FL legislature)

GOP's Red Meat Revue

By Jeremy Morrison

Florida lawmakers recently wrapped up the state's regular legislative session in Tallahassee. While the session was extended a few days to pass a $112.1 billion budget, the real headlines came from lawmakers buying into Gov. Ron DeSantis' culture-war agenda.

Republican lawmakers exercised their power like never before, spending little time to listen to those outside their alt-right ideology. Lawmakers passed legislation covering such GOP red meat issues as abortion, elections, education and sexual orientation. They also handed out new favors to businesses and the state's electric utilities.

"These are bills that essentially have been playing to the base that our governor wants to play to, to increase his chances of becoming president," said Jamil Davis, Florida state organizing manager for Black Voters Matter. "These bills don't address real issues. We still have a minimum wage issue in Florida. We still have a COVID issue in Florida. We still have an affordable housing issue in Florida."

Fixing a Non-problem

Following the 2020 presidential election, Florida's governor praised his own state's election process—"Why can't these states be more like Florida?" However, he tapped Trump gold when he pushed lawmakers to pass stricter elections laws that made mail-in voting more difficult.

Critics charged that the 2021 bill discriminates against Black and Hispanic voters and curtails third-party registration efforts. The bill is currently the subject of a federal lawsuit brought by organizations including Florida Conference of the NAACP, the League of Women Voters of Florida and Black Voters Matter.

This year, he returned to Trumpian rigged-election narrative and asked lawmakers to expand state government and create what some have dubbed an "election police force."

The legislators passed SB 524, which establishes an Office of Election Crimes and Security within the Florida Department of State.

This agency will investigate any reports of voter fraud. In addition, this bill also increases penalties for so-called "ballot harvesting," or the collection of completed ballots by a third party. It also requires local supervisors of elections to more frequently conduct voter roll maintenance.

The elections bill passed along party lines. Republicans painted it, as Rep. Tommy Gregory said, as a way to maintain Florida's "gold standard of election integrity." Democrats, meanwhile, fear what Rep. Fentrice Driskell described as "a monster that will eat us alive if we let it."

Davis describes SB 524 as "literally a solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist in our state."

"This is nothing more than an attempt for him to not speak to the base here in Florida, but to the base he has nationwide," Davis said.

Amy Turkel, interim executive director of the ACLU of Florida, sees the elections police "as a dangerous solution in search of a problem."

"Following the 2020 election, Gov. DeSantis and his allies in the legislature praised the accuracy and efficiency of the election," Turkel said in a statement. "Yet, they continue to undermine Floridians' access to the ballot box."

Chipping Away at a Cornerstone

Another bill Florida lawmakers passed this session is HB 5, which prohibits access to abortion later than 15 weeks of pregnancy. Though the bill does allow for an abortion if necessary to prevent injury to the mother or in the case of fetal abnormality, no exceptions are allowed for rape or incest. Currently, the state allows the procedure up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy.

"The government should never be able to force anyone to carry a pregnancy against their will, yet HB 5 will do exactly that," said Turkel. "This intrusion on Floridians' bodily autonomy and right to make medical decisions for themselves is unconstitutional."

Debbie Deland, president of Florida National Organization for Women, released a statement describing abortion access as "a cornerstone to reproductive justice."

"Floridians do not need cruel bans that result in the criminalization of medical care," Deland said. "Every person and every pregnancy is different. The complexities of this must be acknowledged. Patients' and families' decisions must be listened to and respected. One-size-fits-all restrictions have no place in health care delivery or the state's public health laws."

While Florida's 15-week ban would be less restrictive than some states, which ban abortions upon detection of a fetal heartbeat, it is in line with states like Mississippi, whose 15-week ban is being reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dumbing Down

In another nod to national partisan divides, Florida legislators also passed DeSantis' "Stop WOKE Act" and a second bill that's been dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" law.

Out of fear that critical race theory might creep into Florida's public schools and workplace training, lawmakers passed HB 7 to forbid discussion of systemic racism or just about anything that makes a student or worker feel uncomfortable about their race. With HB 1557, they banned any discussion in kindergarten through third grade about sexual orientation and gender identity.

"All Floridians should be outraged by the legislature's abandonment of one of our most cherished freedoms—the First Amendment," said Turkel. "The many dangerous government censorship bills that were passed this year will impact all Floridians, including private business owners and employees, universities and professors, public schools and teachers, and students at every grade level."

The American Historical Association released a statement pointing out that such laws could potentially lead to accreditation concerns for Florida institutions and financial aid concerns for its students and would most certainly lead to a general dumbing down of its educational offerings.

"If passed, these bills would result in ignorance of basic facts about American history and undermine the education of Florida students," the AHA statement read.

Home Ruled

Lawmakers also gave a big gift to the business community, giving them the right to sue local governments if an ordinance significantly impacts their profits.

"There are some crazy things going on in Tallahassee," Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson bemoaned this effort a couple of months ago.

"It's definitely something that concerns us," said Escambia County Commissioner Robert Bender, invoking the legislative effort's nickname—"the preemption bill to end all preemption bills."

Bender points out that such a law would hinder elected officials from carrying through on directives from constituents and result in local governments using tax dollars to defend lawsuits brought by businesses.

"We don't believe the unintended consequences have been vetted," Bender said.

Sunshine Shadows?

Legislators also passed HB 741, which critics contend deals a blow to rooftop solar in the sunshine state. The bill regards an issue called net metering and phases out subsidies to increase rooftop solar in the state.

"The net metering legislation is a huge disappointment," said Christian Wagley, a coastal organizer for Healthy Gulf. "By dramatically reducing the amount that utilities pay for the solar energy that residents generate on their own rooftops, it makes solar systems less affordable for the thousands who want them."

He added, "It also continues the legislature's recent history of favoring monopoly utilities over the people of Florida and will slow down the transition to renewable energy that Florida needs and the people want."

According to documents obtained by the Miami Herald, lawmakers based this bill on a draft provided to them by NextEra Energy-owned Florida Power & Light

This bill's passage led Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, to make a dark proclamation—"FPL just killed the customer-owned solar market or at least significantly throttled it."