A legislative proposal would ban the sale of agriculture land and property within 20 miles of military bases and other critical infrastructure facilities to interests tied to the Chinese government and six other “countries of concern.”
Ron DeSantis
Where DeSantis Goes and Who He Sees Is None of Your Business: Lawmakers Approve Secrecy
The Florida Senate on Wednesday approved a controversial measure that would shield travel records of the governor and other state leaders. The proposal also would withhold from the public names of certain guests at the governor’s mansion.
‘Don’t Say Gay’ Extended to 12th Grade in New Board of Education Rule, With Vague Exceptions
Teachers shall not “intentionally provide” instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in fourth through 12th grades. Teachers could face suspension or revocation of their educator certificates for violations of the rule.
DeSantis Decrees that Legislature Will Void Disney’s Autonomy on Development Rights
The feud between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co. escalated Monday after the governor said that the state Legislature intends to void an agreement on Disney development rights for years to come.
Trans Bathroom-Ban Bills Affect Private Businesses, Schools, Public Shelters and Healthcare Facilities
The sharply restrictive bills making their way through the Florida Legislature don’t just attempt to control bathroom use by transgender people but represent a much more “broad and vague” ban on gender-inclusive restrooms and changing facilities in private businesses, health care facilities, schools, public shelters, and jails.
The Closing of the Floridian Mind
Ron DeSantis’ crackdown on thinking has got teachers so spooked, and so emboldened censorious Christian nationalists, that knowledge is being ripped out of public education in this state, even before his ridiculous laws are officially in place.
DeSantis Lowers Flags in Response to Tennessee School Shooting as Lenient Gun Laws Move in Legislature
The gesture by Gov. Ron DeSantis comes as the Florida Legislature debates controversial bills that would allow any adult to carry a deadly weapon without having to register with the state or undergo firearms training.
DeSantis Signs Massive Expansion of Subsidized Private Education at Public Expense
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed an expansive voucher law to provide public money for children to attend parochial, secular and other private schools across the state, despite previous skepticism about letting millionaire and billionaire families participate in Florida’s K-12 school voucher programs.
DeSantis Is Destroying Florida Universities’ Hard-Earned Respect in the Name of White Nationalism
Florida’s public universities have been gaining national prominence and respect, with U.F. and FSU ranked Nos. 5 and 19 among public universities. DeSantis’s assault on academic freedom in the name of a white-nationalist, America-first curriculum is demolishing that hard-earned respect and making an embarrassment of the state.
Proposed Law Would Keep DeSantis’s Travel Records Secret
The bill would create a public-records exemption for records held by law-enforcement agencies related to “transportation and protective services” provided to the governor, the governor’s immediate family, visiting governors and “other persons as requested by certain state officers.”
DeSantis Privately Called for Google to Be “Broken Up”
In previously unreported videos from a closed-door Teneo Network conference, Florida’s Republican governor takes his anti-big tech rhetoric, including targeting Google, beyond what he has said publicly.
15-Year Justice Polston Resigns, Giving DeSantis Seventh Pick for Florida Supreme Court
DeSantis has tended toward members of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy when selecting judges, which has made for a staunchly right-leaning court all too willing to reverse important precedents.
Ron DeSantis’ Amazing, Awesome, Heroic Life
This is the book wrote by me, Ronald Dion DeSantis, aged 44-½. I wanted to call it “My Struggle,” but Casey said that wasn’t a good idea. So, we gave it the title “The Courage to be Free.”
Ignoring Constitutional Cautions, Florida Lawmakers Seek to Make It Easier to Sue News Organizations
Ignoring arguments that the bill is unconstitutional, a House panel on Tuesday approved a controversial proposal that would make it easier for people to sue news organizations for defamation. The measure seeks to limit the “actual malice” standard that for decades has protected journalists writing about powerful government officials.
Campaigning in Iowa, DeSantis Says Culture War Offensive Will Help GOP Elections
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told Iowa Republicans Friday that standing strong in the culture wars around issues like education, criminal justice and health care in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic will help their party win elections.
His Sights Well Past Tallahassee, DeSantis Vows to ‘Swing for the Fences’
While the State of the State address is always a high-profile event in Tallahassee, DeSantis’ speech Tuesday drew national attention as he is widely expected to run for president in 2024.
Florida Legislature Is Set to Push Sweeping Changes to Legal System, Favoring Business and Government at Individuals’ Expense
Paul Renner, the Palm Coast Republican and House Speaker, is enthusiastically leading a House that has lurched further to the right than under any administration in generations as the Legislature seeks to revamp the state’s litigation system, favoring businesses at the expense of individual consumers.
Florida Welcomes You. With A Growing List of Exceptions.
Florida doesn’t want you if you’re a lib. That goes double if you’re from California. But if you take pleasure in lib-owning, professor-kicking, book-burning, trans-torturing, forced birth and sanitized history, Florida welcomes you.
Lawmakers File Bills that Would Outlaw Certain Treatments for Trans Youths
The bills are the latest in a series of moves by lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration aimed at transgender people. Doctors who commit violations could either lose their license of face criminal charges.
Florida Bill Would Require Bloggers to ‘Register’ With State and Turn Over Financial Accounts
The bill, which has no chance of becoming law, would require bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis and other elected state officials to register with the government and provide monthly financial income reports. The National Review today called the bill’s GOP author a “moron.”
On Eve of Legislative Session, ACLU Warns of Brazen Attacks on Floridians’ Civil Liberties
The ACLU offered insight into multiple pieces of legislation on voting, LGBT, free expression and minority rights and they say, without a doubt, those bills will end up on the governor’s desk before the halfway point of this year’s session.
Matanzas Assault Case: A Miscarriage of Justice Hardens Before Our Eyes
The public reaction to 17-year-old Brendan Depa’s assault of Joan Naydich at Matanzas High School is mostly compassionate and balanced. The more strident reaction among elected officials–the State Attorney, school board members–is not not. Elected officials are not only exploiting the situation. They’re exploiting Depa. They want blood.
Teaching Heroic Musician Graham Jackson’s Story in Florida Could Now Be Illegal
Florida’s “anti-woke” legislation and the state’s recent rejection of the AP African American studies curriculum are well-known examples of a disturbing trend that attempts to criminalize exploring the stories of Black people such as Graham Jackson.
DeSantis’s New College Board Targets Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Elimination
The New College of Florida board, newly stocked with Gov. Ron DeSantis’s appointees, directed Interim President Richard Corcoran to eliminate the Office of Outreach and Inclusive Excellence, as members slammed DEI initiatives.
Why Is DeSantis Protecting Our Kids from ‘Literature’?
Books are filthy. Yet liberals want your children to read them. Why? So your children will become drag queens, tree huggers, NPR listeners, Lizzo fans, soccer watchers, trans activists, vaccine takers, election denier deniers, AP class takers, and America haters.
DeSantis Suggests He May Get Rid of Advanced Placement Courses in Florida Schools
As a feud over an African American studies course continues between Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and the College Board, the governor said Monday that Florida will “look to re-evaluate” its relationship with the organization.
The DeSantis GOP Plan: Replace Public Education With Ahistorical Propaganda
By unleashing an avalanche of fear and legal absurdity into a struggling, underfunded system of public education, these far-right ideologues are in the process of crippling the learning process for tens of millions of the nation’s children.
Florida Health Boards Back Banning Treatment for Trans Youths
The Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine on Friday refused to scrap new rules prohibiting doctors from using gender-affirming care for trans youths, after dozens of transgender men and women pleaded with them to reverse the treatment bans.
DeSantis Will Snag Some Control of Disney’s Reedy Creek District as Lawmakers Approve Scheme
Florida lawmakers Friday gave final approval to changes that would shift control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District from the Walt Disney Co. to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Republican Lawmakers Prepared to Spend $10 Million on Migrant Expulsions from Florida
The Florida Senate on Wednesday likely will take up a plan that would bolster Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to send migrants to “sanctuary” cities and states, as Republicans and Democrats battle over the issue.
Disney Would Lose Control of Tax District to Board Appointed by DeSantis
A legislative proposal introduced Monday in the Florida Legislature would rename the Reedy Creek Improvement District that has been controlled by Disney World in Central Florida for more than 55 years and replace it with a new board selected exclusively by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Dear Gov. DeSantis: Suppressing Black People Doesn’t Play Well Outside Fox Echo Box
Governor, we all know that you’ve stopped even pretending you’re not racist. But pitching hissy fits about gay people, drag queens, and black history ain’t a good look if you want to appeal to anyone outside the Fox swamp. RuPaul has one of the most popular shows in the nation.
DeSantis Aims to Scrap Higher Ed Diversity Programs and End Tenure as We Know It
DeSantis seeks to remove ‘ideology’ from college campuses, prohibit state funds from going towards critical race theory programs and diversity initiatives, have university presidents be more involved in faculty hiring, and end professors’ tenure was we know it.
Board Surrenders to DeSantis Pressure Against Black Studies High School Course
After state education officials rejected an Advanced Placement African-American studies course, The College Board on Wednesday released a new framework that appears to have dropped content that drew objections from the state.
Florida Crock: Say ‘Resiliency.’ Don’t Say ‘Climate Change.’
Resiliency in Florida is at best an illusion, and at worst a suicide pact between state and local governments. It’s wasted money and a scam on a catastrophic scale, because the state is in denial about global warming, refusing to do its part as one of the world’s leading polluters.
Don’t Say Stay: More than Half of Florida LGBTQ+ Parents Considering Leaving
LGBTQ+ parents reported that their children had already experienced harassment and bullying at school and they also had fears about continuing to live in Florida. Almost one-quarter of parents surveyed feared harassment by neighbors.
Outrage Grows Over DeSantis Suppression of Black Studies AP Course
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ rejection of an Advanced Placement pilot course on African American studies elicited a resounding response from a crowd of at least a hundred people gathered in the state Capitol Wednesday.
DeSantis’s War on Academic Freedom Is Systematically Subordinating Education to Ideology
DeSantis’s edicts include stifling testimony from professors in federal court cases, creating new “evaluations” for tenured professors, surveying students and faculty on campuses to measure political leanings, investigating expenses related to Critical Race Theory, and rejecting an Advanced Placement course on African-American studies that has reached national criticism.
DeSantis Wants Partisan School Board Races and 8-Year Term Limits, Not 12
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed to further politicize local school board elections — a way to get more conservatives on those boards that oversee Florida’s massive public education system.
Leaders Pledge to Fight DeSantis Administration Suppression of African-American Studies Course
Saying that an African-American studies course “lacks educational value,” Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is defending its rejection of the curriculum, while Black religious leaders and elected officials are pledging to “fight like hell” against the decision.
Kamala Harris in Tallahassee Mocks DeSantis’s Version of ‘Freedom’ Over Abortion and Women’s Rights
During a roughly 20-minute address in Tallahassee marking what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Harris mocked DeSantis’ self-described “freedom” agenda as anathema to the struggles of generations of Americans to expand upon the basic rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
Ron DeSantis, ‘Injustice Denier’
DeSantis has explicitly denied that systemic racism exists – characterizing the notion as “a bunch of horse manure.” That makes him an “injustice denier.” Akin to climate change, there is no legitimate academic debate about the reality of systemic racism.
DeSantis Administration Wanted ‘Mental Examination’ of 12-Year-Olds Suing Over Trans Rights
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is asking a federal judge for permission to perform “mental examinations” on a pair of 12-year-olds who are plaintiffs in a challenge to a state rule preventing Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care for transgender people.
DeSantis Wants Freedom of Medical Disinformation and Bans on Safety Requirements
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday, flanked by Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, unveiled an initiative to permanently ban mask requirements across Florida, permanently block Covid-19 vaccine requirements at schools and businesses, and provide protection of “medical freedom of speech”–that is, physicians who disagree with Covid science.
DeSantis’ Attack on New College Is Latest Poisoning of Public Education
The governor has just appointed six new ultra-conservative trustees to the board of New College of Florida in Sarasota. They want to trash its tradition of intellectual freedom and transform it into an institution DeSantis’ base would love, a Bob Jones-style religious school funded with taxpayer money.
Florida Is Accused of Violating Federal Court Order and Restricting Race Education Anyway
Plaintiffs challenging a state law restricting how race-related concepts can be taught in higher education accused Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration Wednesday of violating a federal judge’s order that blocked parts of the law from being enforced.
Moms for Liberty Want ‘Don’t Say LGBTQ’ Law Expanded to Cover K-8
The Florida chapter of Moms for Liberty, the conservative nonprofit that advocates for parental rights in schools, would like state lawmakers to expand the state law that restricts classroom instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation for children from kindergarten through the third grade.
On Rosewood Massacre Anniversary, Sad to See DeSantis Embrace Florida’s Old South Legacy
It’s sad to see Ron DeSantis embrace our Old South legacy rather than trying to lead us to a more inclusive New South future. Instead of demanding equal treatment under the law, open-eyed education and zero-tolerance for anti-Semitism and racism, he runs the other way.
DeSantis Invokes Bible, Gun Analogies and Anti-Wokism in Inaugural Pitched to Ambitions
The governor vowed to “stand our ground” in defense of low taxes, parental rights in education, “law and order,” and more — although Democrats, independents, and overall progressives in Florida would likely beg to differ. The theme and tenor of the speech suggests that DeSantis spoke to a larger goal: running for president.
Myocarditis: Covid-19 is a Much Bigger Risk to the Heart than Vaccination
Perhaps the most common point of conflict concerning Covid-19 vaccines is the risk of myocarditis following immunization, particularly among young people. In Florida, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and Gov. Ron DeSantis have turned against vaccinating younger people based on that misconception.