From the death penalty to gender identity to abortion, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has cemented himself as a conservative standard-bearer in the lead-up to his 2024 presidential announcement.
With the help of GOP supermajorities in the Statehouse, Republicans have been able to push through an aggressive agenda that forms the basis of their White House run, which they made official in a Federal Election Commission filing on Wednesday.
Here’s a look at some of the policies:
abortion
DeSantis signed a bill banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, but it will not go into effect until the state’s current 15-week ban is upheld in an ongoing legal challenge before the state Supreme Court which is controlled by the Conservatives.
A six-week ban in Florida would be a devastating blow to abortion access in the South, as the nearby states of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have banned the procedure at all stages of pregnancy. Georgia and South Carolina forbid it after cardiac activity is detected, which is about six weeks.
Critics, including some Republicans, have called the six-week law excessive, noting that most women do not even realize they are pregnant in that time frame.
“Don’t Say Gay”
The DeSantis administration expanded the controversial law, which critics called “Don’t Say Gay” to cover all grades, banning classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.
The move comes after DeSantis signed a bill last year that prohibited such lessons through third grade, a policy he has seen as a means to protect children from sexual abuse.
This year, the DeSantis administration put a proposal before the state Board of Education to extend the policy to grades 4-12, unless required as part of existing state standards or reproductive health instruction that students choose not to take. Can The board appointed by DeSantis approved the proposal and the Legislature put it into law.
DeSantis education officials have said the purpose of the policy is to make it clear that teachers must follow the state education curriculum.
Pronoun
DeSantis signed a bill that prohibits school employees or students from referring to people by pronouns that do not correspond to the person’s gender.
The law also prohibits school staff from asking students what pronouns they use and prohibits staff from sharing their pronouns with students if they do not conform to the employee’s gender.
Additionally, the law makes it the policy of every public school that “a person’s sex is an immutable biological characteristic and that it is false to assign a pronoun to a person that does not correspond to such person’s sex.”
capital punishment
DeSantis has signed two major death penalty bills this year.
Eliminates the requirement for a unanimous jury in the first capital punishment, allowing capital punishment with a jury recommendation of at least 8-4 in favor of execution. Only three of the 27 states that have implemented the death penalty do not require unanimity. Alabama allows 10-2 decisions, and Missouri and Indiana allow a judge to decide when there is a divided jury.
The change came in response to a ruling that spared the life of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter who killed 17 people in 2018.
The other death penalty bill DeSantis has allowed the death penalty in child rape convictions, despite a US Supreme Court ruling banning the death penalty in such cases.
The law aims to get the conservative-controlled US Supreme Court to reconsider a 2008 ruling that found it unconstitutional to use the death penalty in child sexual battery cases.
Florida is one of a handful of states with existing laws that allow the death penalty on child rape convicts but has not used the sentence. In view of the decision of the High Court. The Florida Supreme Court has also ruled against the use of the death penalty in those convicted of sexual battery.
DeSantis said he believed the Supreme Court’s decision was “wrong”.
guns
A bill signed by DeSantis this session would allow Floridians to carry concealed guns without a permit.
The new law will allow anyone who can legally own a gun in Florida to carry it without a permit. This means that carrying concealed guns in public would not require training and background checks. It becomes effective from 1 July.
About 3 million Floridians have a concealed weapons permit. While purchasing a gun from a licensed dealer will require a background check and a three-day waiting period, they are not required for private transactions or arms exchanges.
DeSantis has said he thinks Florida should go even further and allow people to openly carry guns. While some lawmakers have pushed for open carry, it appears unlikely the Legislature will pass such legislation this session.
Nevertheless, the governor has promoted the legislation, releasing a statement that read “constitutional carry is in the books” after signing it into law.
Diversity
Another new law bars colleges from using state or federal funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a persistent goal of DeSantis.
Such initiatives, sometimes referred to as DEI, have come under increasing criticism from Republicans, who argue that the programs are racially divisive.
The signing comes a year after legislation called the Stop Woke Act, which prohibits certain race-based conversations and analysis in schools and businesses. Last year’s law blocks a directive that says members of a race are inherently racist or should feel guilt for past actions by others in the same race, among other things.
disney
DeSantis also continued his long-running feud with Disney this year.
The company came under fire last year for criticizing the so-called Don’t Say Gay law.
As punishment, DeSantis disbanded Disney World’s self-governing district and appointed a new board of supervisors that would oversee municipal services at the massive theme parks. But before the new board was in place, the company pushed an eleventh-hour deal that stripped the new supervisors of most of their authority.
Disney sued in federal court in a case the governor said triggered a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company opposed the sexual orientation and gender identity law.
DeSantis has since signed bills to increase state oversight of the resort’s monorail as well as voiding agreements made by the Disney board before the state took over it.
