The Jacksonville Black Chamber of Commerce is demanding clarification from the city after funding approved by City Council was put on hold.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Black Chamber of Commerce is calling on City Hall to explain why funding approved by City Council late last year has been paused, citing a newly signed state law that does not take effect until 2027.

At issue is Ordinance 2025-0842-E, passed by City Council on Dec. 9, 2025.

The ordinance allocated $80,000 to support three local chambers of commerce: the Jacksonville Black Chamber of Commerce, the First Coast Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Asian Chamber of Commerce of North Florida. Each organization was set to receive roughly $26,666.

Chamber leaders say they were notified this week that the city would not disburse the funds because of SB 1134, a state law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis earlier in April, establishing restrictions on certain local government funding related to diversity, equity and inclusion. The law doesn’t go into effect until January 1, 2027.

“Removing or rescinding funding from a 2025–2026 fiscal year based on a law that doesn’t go into effect until January of 2027 is unethical and, quite frankly, unlawful,” said Kym Maye, chief compliance officer of the Jacksonville Black Chamber of Commerce.

Maye said after learning the money would not be released, the chamber sent written correspondence to the Mayor’s Office, the Office of Economic Development and city council members, requesting clarification.

“As of today, we have not received a response from anyone,” Maye said. “Sometimes no answer is an answer, but that’s not acceptable when public dollars and approved ordinances are involved.”

Shannon Denson, CEO of the Jacksonville Black Chamber of Commerce, said the funding was meant to expand programming the chamber is already providing, including networking events, business roundtables, literacy initiatives and community partnerships, but both she and May stress the dispute runs deeper than finances.

“This is not about the money,” Maye said. “This is about policy. This is about a law that was enacted and an ordinance that was approved and not honored. If this ordinance isn’t honored, what other ordinances aren’t being honored?”

Maye says the chamber does not rely on city funding to operate, noting all staff are volunteers and that the organization has received little to no city funding in recent years.

Even so, she said, honoring the ordinance is critical to maintaining trust between the city and the organizations it partners with.

“If we stop our work, that hurts the community,” Maye said. “We’re going to pivot, if we have to, and find other resources. But we shouldn’t have to fight for something that was already promised.”

District 11 City Councilman Raul Arias, who sponsored the ordinance, said he was shocked to find out that the funding hadn’t already been disbursed.

“This is almost 5 months, if not around 5 months, that they’ve been waiting for their funding,” Arias said. “So the question is not just about the Governor and his bill that he just assed, but why has it taken five months to get these three chambers, these 3 entities funded? That’s the real issue I have right now.”

Arias said he introduced the ordinance after noting the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce receives roughly $750,000 annually in recurring city funding. He says the city has a responsibility to honor legislation approved by the council and plans to raise the issue with city leadership.

“At the end of the day, we took our action as a council last year,” said Arias. “They should have been funded by now, and so it’s a matter of doing what’s right for our community, doing what we owe the people. We said you’re getting funded, and we have legislation on that; we have to do our part to make it right.”

Arias said he plans to reach out to Mayor Deegan’s office, his City Council colleagues and hold a public notice meeting in the coming weeks to discuss how the new state law should be applied moving forward.

The City of Jacksonville sent First Coast News the following statement: 

“The Office of Economic Development worked closely with the three chambers over many months to prepare a contract and legislation that would deliver this funding. Much of this work preceded the passage and signing into law of SB 1134. Proceeding further with the funding would put an unfortunate and unnecessary target on the city and organizations. In the meantime, we will reach out and meet with the chambers to explore how we can support their missions while continuing to comply with the law. We also encourage them to make their voices heard with the members of the Duval Delegation that sponsored the legislation which created this conflict in the first place.”