From the death penalty to gender identity to abortion, Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis established himself as a conservative standard-bearer ahead of his 2024 presidential announcement.
With the help of a GOP majority in the state agency, the Republican was able to advance an active agenda that forms the basis of his White House run, which he make it official in Federal Election Commission filings Wednesday.
Here are some policies:
ABORTION
DeSantis signed a bill to ban abortion after six weeks pregnant, but it won’t go into effect unless the state’s current 15-week ban is upheld in an ongoing legal challenge before the state’s Supreme Court, controlled by conservatives.
Florida’s six-week ban would deal a blow to abortions in the South, as neighboring states Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have banned the procedure at all stages of pregnancy. Georgia and South Carolina banned it after cardiac activity could be detected, which is about six weeks.
Critics, including some Republicans, have criticized the six-week law as extreme, as most women don’t even realize they’re pregnant during that time period.
“DO NOT SAY GAY”
The DeSantis government has extended the controversial law, which critics call “No Gay Saying,” to apply to all grades, banning classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.
The move comes after DeSantis signed a bill last year banning such lessons until the end of third grade, a policy he has advocated as a means of protecting children from sexual abuse. sex.
This year, the DeSantis government made a proposal before the state Board of Education to policy extended to grades 4-12, unless required by applicable state standards or as part of reproductive health guidelines in which the student may opt out. The DeSantis-appointed council approved the proposal and the Legislature incorporated it into law.
DeSantis education officials say the policy is intended to make it clear that teachers must adhere to the state educational program.
PRONOUNS
DeSantis has signed a bill that prevents school staff or students forced to call people by pronouns does 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 correspond to the employee’s gender.
In addition, the law makes it a policy of every public school that “a person’s sex is a constant biological trait and it is wrong to attribute a person a pronoun that does not correspond to that person’s gender.”
DEAD PENALTY ONLY
DeSantis signed two major death penalty bills this year.
First end a ask the jury to agree in sentencing the death penalty, permitting the death penalty with a jury recommendation of at least 8-4 in favor of execution. Only three of the 27 states have adopted the death penalty without consent. Alabama allows 10-2 decisions, Missouri and Indiana for the judge to decide when there is a split jury.
The change comes in response to a verdict that spared the life of high school shooter Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who killed 17 people in 2018.
Another death penalty bill that DeSantis signed for permission death penalty for child rapedespite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning the death penalty in such cases.
The law is intended to ask the conservative-controlled US Supreme Court to review its 2008 ruling that the use of the death penalty in child sex abuse cases is unconstitutional.
Florida is one of the few states with existing laws that allow the death penalty for child rape but has not yet implemented it. issue a judgment of the supreme court. The Florida Supreme Court has also ruled against the use of the death penalty in sexual assault convictions.
DeSantis said he believes the Supreme Court’s decision is “wrong.”
GUN
Floridians will be able to carry a concealed gun without a license under the bill that DeSantis signed in this session.
The new law will allow anyone who can legally own a firearm in Florida to carry a gun without a license. That means no training and background checks are required to carry a concealed gun in public. It takes effect on July 1.
Nearly 3 million Floridians have concealed weapons permits. While background checks and three-day waiting periods are still required to purchase firearms from a licensed dealer, they are not required for individual transactions or firearm exchanges.
DeSantis has said that he thinks Florida should go further and allow people to carry guns openly. Although some legislators have pushed for a public implementation, it is unlikely that the Legislature will pass such legislation during this session.
However, the governor pushed for the law, issuing a statement that read “The provisions of the Constitution are written in the book” after he signed the law into law.
DIVERSITY
Another new law prohibits universities from using state or federal funding for diversity, equality, and inclusion programs. DeSantis .’s consistent goal.
Such initiatives, sometimes referred to as DEIs, have been met with growing criticism from Republicans, who say the programs are racially divisive.
The legislation came a year after he signed a law called the Stop WOKE Act, which restricts certain conversations and analysis based on race in schools and businesses. Last year’s law banned guidance from saying that members of a race are inherently racist or should feel guilty for the past actions of people of the same race, among other things.
DISNEY
DeSantis also continued his feud with Disney This year.
The company was criticized by him for criticizing the so-called Don’t Say Gay law last year.
As punishment, DeSantis dissolved Disney World’s autonomous district and appointed a new supervisory board that would oversee city services in the vast theme parks. But before the new board was born, the company pushed for an 11-hour deal that stripped the new supervisors of most of the powers.
Disney sues DeSantis in federal court in a lawsuit that said the governor launched a “targeted government campaign of retaliation” after the company opposed laws on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Since then, DeSantis has signed bills to strengthen the state’s oversight of the resort’s monorail as well as rescind agreements made by the Disney board before the state took over it. .
