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The changes come after a sweeping state law signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in April banned municipalities and counties from spending money on programs or offices related to DEI.<\/p>\n
Carlton Gillespie\/WLRN<\/p>\n
Broward is one step closer to executing a state-mandated purge of diversity programs in local government.<\/p>\n
The Broward County Commission voted 6-2 to approve a public hearing on two ordinances related to a state crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion in local government Tuesday.<\/p>\n
If approved, one ordinance<\/a> would repeal the county code authorizing the Racial Equity Task Force as well as the Commission on the Status of Women.<\/p>\n The other<\/a> would make changes to the Tourist Development Council, Climate Change Task Force and Homeless Continuum of Care Board, such as the removal of a slot for a representative of the LGBTQ+ community from the latter.<\/p>\n The changes come after a sweeping state law<\/a> signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in April banned municipalities and counties from spending money on programs or offices related to DEI. It defines the term as giving preferential treatments based on characteristics like gender, race and sexual orientation. The ban takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.<\/p>\n Broward arts groups have already raised alarms<\/a> as they eye thousands of dollars in losses to county cultural grant funding. Now, the commission is turning inward to remove references to specific communities from its administrative code.<\/p>\n \u201cWe, this community, have been a leader in this state on human rights, on civil rights, on all kinds of things,\u201d said Commissioner Beam Furr at Tuesday\u2019s commission meeting. \u201cAnd now we\u2019re being asked to backpeddle, and I don\u2019t want to backpeddle.\u201d<\/p>\n Furr, who leaves office in November, joined Commissioner Nan Rich in voting against both ordinances. Other members of the commission said they didn\u2019t want to approve the changes but felt their hands were tied under state law.<\/p>\n The approved resolutions direct the county administrator to post notices of public hearing on Oct. 20 for the two proposed ordinances.<\/p>\n The first sunsets the Racial Equity Task Force and Commission on the Status of Women.<\/p>\n The Racial Equity Task force was established in 2020<\/a> to tackle systemic racism in Broward County. The 37-member volunteer group contained members nominated by groups like the NAACP and the Broward Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n Members met monthly, sometimes as a group and sometimes in subcommittees devoted to areas including healthcare and education. They held town halls and made recommendations to the commission based on conversations with community members.<\/p>\n The Commission on the Status of Women, meanwhile, dates back<\/a> to 1976. Its tasks included spearheading a biannual report<\/a> in partnership with Florida International University examining data on education, economic and health factors affecting Broward residents.<\/p>\n Its landing page<\/a> on the Broward County website no longer exists.<\/p>\n Commissioner Rich said she\u2019s worked closely with the commission as it\u2019s taken the lead on gender equity research and celebrations like Women\u2019s History Month. She said she couldn\u2019t vote to dismantle it just because the state targeted it in what she described as a \u201cwar on woke.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWomen make up more than 50% of the population \u2026 in this county, and yet we\u2019re still engaged in this ongoing struggle of equal rights, equal pay, equal respect, and equal justice,\u201d Rich said. \u201cAnd that is why I have to vote my conscience, and I will be voting \u2018no\u2019 on this item.\u201d<\/p>\n The commission\u2019s latest report<\/a> found full-time female workers in Broward County earned 86 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2023.<\/p>\n Changing who can participate<\/p>\n The second proposed ordinance targets the Tourist Development Council, Climate Change Task Force and Homeless Continuum of Care Board. Though it doesn\u2019t seek to eliminate the entities, it does change language in the county\u2019s administrative code specifying who should participate.<\/p>\n