The Florida Legislature has become a safe space for white supremacists
Thoughts on an especially ugly week in Tallahassee. Plus: Top stories, notable quotes, and bills on the move from Week 5 of the Florida Legislature's 2024 session.
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There was an especially ugly moment in Tallahassee last week.
The Florida Senate’s Community Affairs Committee was holding a hearing on Senate Bill 1122, a piece of legislation meant to put a stop to cities and counties removing statues and public memorials that honor Confederate leaders and other supporters of slavery. During the public testimony on the bill, an attorney from a small town in North Florida took his turn at the microphone.
“I’m speaking in favor of this because I am a student of history,” he told the senators on the committee. “This dispute that you’re seeing right now is an extension of what was left of the Civil War after the shooting ended. The shooting ended in 1865. But the cultural war has continued ever since.”
Then, he added this: “Now, this product of removal of statutes that have historic significance — that are over a hundred years old — is part of the culture war being waged against white society.”
The comment stunned some senators. Sen. Rosalind Osgood, a Democrat who represents Broward County and is the only Black member of the Senate Community Affairs Committee, decided to probe a little deeper into the man’s beliefs.
“You said that you’re a historian, and you spoke to the importance of teaching history,” Osgood said. “Are you in support of teaching racism, sexism, and oppression as a part of that history, too?”
“No, I am not,” he replied.
He began to inveigh against critical race theory. But Sen. Alexis Calatayud, a Republican who represents Miami-Dade County and chairs the Community Affairs Committee, cut him off.
Then she, too, asked him to elaborate on his beliefs.
“I have a question,” Calatayud said. “I do not believe people who support this policy share your perspective on supporting white culture. Or supporting the concept of the need to push white — supremacy is what I heard. White culture, white supremacy. So I just want to clarify: That was your intent in your public testimony today?”
Without hesitation, he responded, “Yes. It was.”
The three Democrats on the committee eventually stormed out of the hearing in disgust. And while all the Republicans remained, two of them expressed deep revulsion at the man’s remarks.
But then they did exactly what he wanted them to: They voted for SB 1122, which passed out of the Senate Community Affairs Committee on a 5-0 vote.
After the hearing, some senators said they were shocked. Meeting with reporters the next day, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, a Republican from Naples, referred to the “abhorrent behavior of some public members who testified” on the bill.
But nobody should have been surprised — least of all the very same politicians in Florida who have spent years enflaming and exploiting racial prejudices for political gain.
This session alone, a single Republican senator — Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a former leader of the state Republican Party — has filed troll-ish bills meant to start fights over reparations (Senate Joint Resolution 582) and the teaching of slavery (Senate Bill 1192).
Neither of those bills are moving forward this session. But a third one is: Senate Bill 1372, which would expand the state’s “Stop WOKE Act,” the suppressive law — currently blocked by the courts — that tries to stop teachers and professors from talking to their students about the impacts of racism and sexism.
During a separate hearing last week on that bill, Ingoglia claimed he had discovered a “litany” of examples in which universities were teaching offensive concepts or using outrageous materials in their educator-preparation programs — the classes that students take when they are training to become teachers themselves.
Another senator asked Ingoglia, who represents a district near Tampa, to provide a few specific examples. And what did he find so inappropriate? Materials that analyze the inequities in education and study methods for responding to hate crimes.
It sometimes seems as if there is no depth that some Florida leaders won’t sink to in the name of stoking racial grievance.
For example, there is another piece of legislation moving through both the House and Senate this session that would make a bunch of changes to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which is the state’s occupational licensing agency.
House Bill 1335 and Senate Bill 1544 are, for the most part, pretty boring bills. But tucked inside each are a few lines that could eliminate mentoring programs for women and people of color who hope to one day become harbor pilots.
Harbor pilots are the folks who guide cruise and cargo ships in and out of Florida’s deepwater seaports. These are very high-paying jobs. But there are only about 100 of them across the state — and nearly all are filled by white men.
In fact, 88 of the state’s 94 harbor pilots were white men as of 2019. (I’m using 2019 because that’s the most recent year I could find comprehensive figures. But the numbers haven’t changed much since then.)
So Florida has a law on the books that requires the pilots in each port to engage in mentoring programs to support young women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans who might be interested in a career in harbor piloting. It’s led to things like ride-along opportunities, youth-group sponsorships, and college scholarships.
HB 1335 and SB 1544 would eliminate this law.
The idea comes from the DeSantis administration, according to Sen. Ed Hooper, a Republican from Clearwater who is sponsoring the Senate version of the legislation.
“After discussion with the agency…they convinced me — and I convinced me — that, at the end of the day, I want to make sure that we have the most qualified pilots,” Hooper said during a hearing on the bill last week. “I don’t care of their ethnicity, gender or race.”
He did not, of course, provide any evidence whatsoever that mentoring women and minorities somehow leads to less-qualified pilots.
Now, not all of these bills will pass. In fact, it looks like SB 1122, the bill to protect Confederate statues, may have been doomed by the public admission that some supporters of the legislation view it as a plan to protect “white culture.”
“I think there are problems with the bill,” Passidomo told reporters. “I’m not going to bring a bill to the floor that is so abhorrent to everybody.”
But even if that particular bill never moves again, everyone should stop pretending to be so surprised that a white supremacist would find the Florida Legislature such a safe space.
Quotes from the Capitol
“I think we have to be just — not agnostic, but we have to take the world as we find it. And so if the climate’s changing, if that’s going to have negative consequences, we put aside a bunch of money for flooding and resilience.”
— House Speaker Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast), when asked by a reporter about a bill that would delete many references to climate change in state law — and whether that suggests Florida lawmakers do not believe in climate change.
“The yacht-ies will be partying with big bottles of wine tonight.”
— Rep. Bob Rommel (R-Naples), after the House Commerce Committee passed bills supporting the yacht industry and permitting the sale of bigger bottles of wine.
“You shouldn’t tax a new car at the used car value, but you shouldn’t tax a used car at the new car value. And that is something that I am thinking about and trying to tackle.”
— Rep. Randy Fine (R-Brevard County), while presenting a bill that would cut taxes on timeshares — including on timeshares owned by individuals, which are worth very little money, but also on timeshares owned by developers, which are worth tens of thousands of dollars each.
“If they don’t want to go, you can’t stay here.”
— Renner, when asked by a reporter what would happen if a homeless person refuses to move to a camp under a bill that would outlaw sleeping on public property unless it’s within a sanctioned encampment.
Billtrack
In honor of the show with The Florida Channel’s catchiest music, here’s a look at some of the bills on the move this past week:
Senate Bill 460 and House Bill 917: The bills would allow homebuilders to employ more 16- and 17-year-old teenagers on residential construction sites. SB 460 passed the Senate Education Appropriations Committee by a 7-0 vote. HB 917 passed the House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee by a 12-2 vote. (Senate vote sheet, House vote sheet)
House Bill 471: The bill would give a nearly $200 million a year tax cut for timeshare owners and timeshare developers. Passed the House Commerce Committee by a 13-3 vote. (Vote sheet)
Senate Bill 476: The bill would a person who impregnates someone who then obtains an abortion to sue the doctor who performed the abortion. Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 7-2 vote. (Vote sheet)
Senate Bill 632: The bill would let people shoot Florida black bears if they feel they, someone else or their home is threatened. Passed the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee by a 13-7 vote. (Vote sheet)
Senate Bill 742: The bill would erase local “responsible wage” or “prevailing wage” ordinances that require construction companies building public projects to provide their workers with higher pay and better benefits. Passed the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee by a 4-2 vote. (Vote sheet)
House Bill 769: The bill would give a property tax break to companies that produce biomethane. Passed the House Ways & Means Committee by a 22-1 vote. (Vote sheet)
House Bill 1051: The bill would make it easier for agricultural companies to build housing for migrant farmworkers. Passed the House State Affairs Committee by an 18-0 vote. (Vote sheet)
Senate Bill 1084: The bill would ban the sale of lab-grown meat. Passed the Senate Agriculture, Environment and General Government Appropriations Committee by a 6-3 vote. (Vote sheet)
Senate Bill 1104 and House Bill 1149: The bills would prevent insurance companies from canceling policies on homeowners whose homes are damaged in a hurricane before the homeowner has time to make repairs. SB 1104 passed the Sente Judiciary Committee by a 9-0 vote. HB 1149 passed the House Insurance & Banking Committee by a 15-0 vote. (Senate vote sheet, House vote sheet)
House Bill 1195 and Senate Bill 1322: The bills would prevent county commissions and city councils from raising local property tax rates unless they do so by a two-thirds vote. HB 1195 passed the House State Affairs Committee by a 13-4 vote. SB 1322 passed the Senate Finance & Tax Committee by a 4-2 vote. (House vote sheet, Senate vote sheet)
House Bill 1267: The bill would create a $23 million program to support low-income families transitioning off of publicly subsidized childcare. Passed the House Appropriations Committee by a 28-0 vote. (Vote sheet)
House Bill 1289: The bill would give state officials more power to deny unemployment benefits to laid-off workers. Passed the House Regulatory Reform & Economic Development Subcommittee by an 8-5 vote. (Vote sheet)
House Bill 1297: The bill would allow the Florida Keys to spend hotel taxes on affordable housing for tourism industry workers. Passed the House Ways & Means Committee by a 21-0 vote. (Vote sheet)
House Bill 1347: The bill would allow consumer loan companies that target low-income people with poor credit histories to charge much higher interest rates. Passed the House State Administration & Technology Appropriations Subcommittee by an 11-3 vote (Vote sheet)
House Bill 1365 and Senate Bill 1530: The bills would implicitly criminalize homelessness by forcing cities and counties to prevent people from sleeping on public property unless they are in sanctioned encampments. HB 1365 passed the House Judiciary Committee by a 16-6 vote. SB 1530 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by an 8-1 vote (House vote sheet, Senate vote sheet)
Senate Bill 1372: The bill would suppress discussions of racism and sexism in educator-preparation programs. Passed the Senate Education Appropriations Committee by a 4-1 vote. (Vote sheet)
Senate Bill 1492: The bill would block cities and counties from requiring businesses to provide safety measures such as drinking water to employees working outside in extreme heat. Passed the Senate Community Affairs Committee by a 5-3 vote. (Vote sheet)
House Bill 1547 and Senate Bill 1628: The bills would give businesses more power to block local government decisions. HB 1547 passed the House Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee by an 11-5 vote. SB 1628 passed the Senate Community Affairs Committee by a 5-3 vote. (House vote sheet, Senate vote sheet)
Reading list
Tampa Bay Time: Florida lawmakers pitch radical idea to solve property insurance crisis
Orlando Weekly: Florida sees its first major purge of public sector unions following passage of Republicans' anti-union law
Miami Herald: Florida builders seek millions in ‘Live Local’ tax breaks, build few affordable units
South Florida Sun-Sentinel: These proposed legislative reforms deserve serious review | Editorial
Florida Times-Union: Nate Monroe: State lawmakers intent on making Florida the nation's corruption capital
Miami Herald: DeSantis comes out in support of effort to move casino to Fontainebleau Miami Beach
WFSU: Preemption bills moving in the Florida Legislature could pick up where last year's left off
Orlando Weekly: Florida bill that would give construction companies more child laborers advances with Democratic support
Palm Beach Post: Cerabino: DeSantis and Florida State Guard have disturbing echoes to the Nazi brown shirts
Miami Herald: How and why Florida lawmakers are pushing to end civilian police watchdog agencies
Tallahassee Democrat: Some Florida lawmakers want to reduce age to buy rifles, raise age to be stripper
Tampa Bay Times: Florida could adopt new solution to homeless crisis: Camps
Tampa Bay Times: With climate change, is it time to consider a Category 6 hurricane?
Well, we're now paying for the privilege of living inside DeSantis' head. And it's an ugly, horrid, cesspool of hate and fascist tropes. And if it includes Christopher Rufo - we're doomed! -------- "As we’ve covered here at length, the list of initial new trustees at New College include Christopher Rufo, an avowed white nationalist who has helped to drive the hysteria around Critical Race Theory and transgender students; Matthew Spaulding, a dean from Hillsdale College of Michigan, an ultra-conservative Christian private school; and Eddie Spier, the superintendent of a religious charter school in Sarasota County.
DeSantis’s most recent appointee, Ryan Anderson, is the president of a conservative think-tank and author of a book that was so transphobic that Amazon pulled it from its inventory. That’s no problem for DeSantis, though, because Anderson’s work fits his objective worldview.
What’s clear is that DeSantis considers racism and homophobic libel as objective truths and thus the starting point for all school curriculum, and anything that diverges from those reprehensible beliefs as inappropriately ideological. His commitment to rooting out different worldviews is such that DeSantis is also granting the Board of Trustees at these institutions the power to strip professors of tenure and even fire them."
https://progressreport.substack.com/p/fascism-shouldnt-be-this-easy-for
As I read this article, Bernie Taupin's words to the Elton John song, Burn Down the Mission, mysteriously began playing in my head, the most prominent of which were "Its time we put the flame torch to their keep."