Some Florida city leaders are worried the bill is an overreach of the state government.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A bill that would ban Florida counties and municipalities from spending money on diversity, equity, and inclusion has passed a hurdle in the state legislature. The Senate passed its version of the bill this week, and the House version is making its way through committees.
HB 1001 would prohibit counties and municipalities from funding, promoting, or taking any official action related to DEI. This includes adopting ordinances, resolutions, or spending money on contracts or programs that promote DEI initiatives and DEI hiring practices.
Genece Minshew sits on the City of Fernandina Beach Commission. She is worried this bill would ultimately hurt local organizations.
“I’ve talked to city staff, we give about $150,000 a year to local nonprofits that are our safety net in our community. We may stop that. I mean, we just don’t have a good view of what this all means,” Minshew explained.
The bill defines DEI as the manipulation of or influence over the composition of employees, the promotion of or act of providing preferential treatment to a person or group, or the adoption of training programming or activities in reference to race, color, sex, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
The bill’s sponsor, republican State Representative Dean Black, said this has been two years in the making.
“We have seen our society literally torn apart by profound ideological disputes, and our government has been involved in it. And over the preceding years, we’ve done a lot of work to ban DEI in higher education, in K-12 education. Now even at the federal level, but we haven’t done anything in our state and local governments,” Black explained.
Under the proposed bill, county or city leaders who violate the law could face charges of misfeasance or malfeasance in office, and potentially be removed from office by the governor. Residents would also be able to file lawsuits for violations of the bill.
Minshew said this could jeopardize the way cities help organizations put on community events or festivals.
“Our policies allow each nonprofit or any nonprofit to get one free special permit a year so in that case, we’re waiving fees for Pride events, Hispanic heritage events, church events and Christian national events, no matter who it is. But we’ll probably stop that just out of an overabundance of caution. And that’s really a shame because now we’re gonna hurt everybody,” Minshew said.
Black told First Coast News the bill does not stop local governments from promoting federal or state holidays, like Martin Luther King, Jr. day, or events celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. When asked what this would mean for events celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, like Pride Month, he said local governments can still issue permits, but not promote it.
“We believe in the Constitution and you have a right to peaceably assemble and say what you want and do what you want. So the city would be able to issue permits in a content-neutral manner and of course, provide for public safety. All of that is allowed for under the bill,” Black said.
The bill is still making its way through the House. If it becomes law, it will not take effect until 2027.