6 April 27 - MAy 3, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | News | letters | coNteNts | O ver the past several months, as his road-show rehearsal for a presumed presi- dential run proceeds apace, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has managed to take full advantage of his party’s supermajority in Tallahassee. Personal firearms, abortion, transgender healthcare, school curricula, capital punishment, even drag shows — Republicans have pushed through a raft of new legislation calculated to set right-wing hearts aflutter and liberal hair on fire. Of course, it’s often difficult to see the vast expanse of the legislative meat counter for the individual sausages (as it were) — so we’ve created a handy-dandy charticle! There’s no guarantee that all the bills outlined in the graphic below will make it to the governor’s desk by the time the gavel drops on the current session on Friday, May 5. Regardless, DeSantis will be able to take to the campaign trail and tout a homegrown legisla- tive blueprint that burnishes his leadership bona fides and delivers on his incessantly repeated pledge to beat back “the woke mob.” Will this Florida blueprint propel the 44-year-old Jacksonville native to the Republican nomination in Milwaukee a year from now? The results of two recent nationwide polls aren’t exactly auspicious on that count. In a recent NBC News poll of likely Republican primary voters, DeSantis trailed Donald Trump by 15 percentage points; a similar Wall Street Journal poll had the governor down by 13 to the defeated and indicted ex-POTUS. And the governor has taken some knocks for his person- ality (or lack thereof). Of course, no matter how the upcoming presidential race plays out, Floridians will have to contend with the fallout from DeSantis’ strikingly big-government agenda for years to come. Note: Legislation in the chart below is presented roughly in reverse chronological order, and from done deal to least likely to happen. Icons indicate which basic human rights and/or American cultural touchstones they indulge or desecrate. — Tom Finkel BILL SUBJECT SUMMARY VOTES, BILL STATUS AS OF APRIL 20, 2023 INTRODUCED BY RELATED BILLS TL;DR House Bill 1 Education Revises provisions relating to Family Empowerment Scholarship Program, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, part-time enrollment in public schools, transportation of students, grad- uations requirements, Commissioner of Education duties, & educator certifications. 3/17: Passed House (83-27); 3/23: Passed Senate (26-12); 3/27: Signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis Kaylee Tuck (Republican, District 83, Lake Placid), Susan Plasencia (Republican, District 37, Winter Park) Down with public schools. Up with “universal school choice.” House Bill 543 Public Safety Authorizes person to carry concealed weapon or firearm if he or she is licensed to do so or meets specified requirements; requires person who is carrying concealed weapon or firearm without license to carry identification & display upon demand by law enforcement; prohibits person who is carrying concealed weapon or firearm without license from carrying such weapon or firearm in specified locations; authorizes nonresident to carry concealed weapon or firearm in this state if he or she meets same requirements as resident; requires Office of Safe Schools to develop behavioral threat management operational process. 3/24: Passed House (76-32); 3/30: Passed Senate (27-13); 4/3: Signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis Robert Charles “Chuck” Brannan III (Republican, District 10, Macclenny) Concealed-carry permit? We don’t have to show you no stinking concealed- carry permit! Senate Bill 300 Pregnancy and Parenting Support Citing this act as the “Heartbeat Protection Act”; requiring the Department of Health to contract for the management and delivery of parenting support services, in addition to preg- nancy support services; prohibiting physicians from knowingly performing or inducing a termination of pregnancy after the gestational age of the fetus is determined to be more than 6 weeks, rather than 15 weeks, with exceptions; providing an exception if the woman obtaining the abortion is doing so because she is a victim of rape, incest, or human trafficking, subject to certain conditions; requiring that medications intended for use in a medical abortion be dispensed in person by a physician, etc. 4/3: Passed Senate (26-13); 4/13: Passed House (70-40); 4/13: Signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis Erin Grall (Republican, District 29, Fort Pierce) Bans abortions after six weeks of preg- nancy with drastic exceptions that allow up to 15 weeks. BILL SUBJECT House Bill 1 Education House Public Safety 300 Parenting choice.” Robert Charles “Chuck” Brannan III (Republican, Concealed-carry permit? We don’t have to show you no stinking concealed- carry permit! Bans abortions after CIVICS 101: INTRO TO DESANTISLAND State lawmakers are providing fodder for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential aspirations. Can Florida survive the fallout? — Tom Finkel CIVICS 101: INTRO TO DESANTISLAND State lawmakers are providing fodder for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential aspirations. Illustrations: Tom Carlson. DeSantis photo: Right Cheer/Creative Commons.
