TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – From the death penalty to gender identity and abortion, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has established himself as a conservative standard-bearer as he prepares to launch a presidential campaign in some moment after this week’s legislative session ends.
With the help of GOP supermajorities in the state, the Republican has been able to push an aggressive agenda during the legislative session that is expected to be the foundation of his race for the White House.
Below are some of the policies:
ABORTION
DeSantis has signed a bill that bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, but it won’t go into effect unless the state’s current 15-week ban is upheld in an ongoing legal challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court. the state, which is controlled by conservatives.
A six-week ban in Florida would deal a devastating blow to abortion access in the South, as the nearby states of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have banned the procedure at all stages of pregnancy. Georgia bans it after heart activity can be detected, which is about six weeks.
Critics, including some Republicans, have slammed the six-week law as extreme, given that most women don’t even realize they’re pregnant within that time frame.
“DON’T SAY GAY”
The DeSantis administration has expanded the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law critics call to cover all grades, banning classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.
The move came after DeSantis signed a bill last year banning such lessons through third grade, a policy he has championed as a means to protect children from sexualization.
But this year, the DeSantis administration quietly filed a proposal before the state Board of Education to extend the policy to grades 4 and 12, unless required by existing state standards or as part of instruction reproductive health that students may choose not to take. The board, which is appointed by DeSantis, approved the proposal and it will take effect in the coming weeks.
DeSantis education officials have said the policy is intended to make clear that teachers must adhere to the state education curriculum.
PRONOUNS
DeSantis is expected to soon sign a bill that would prevent school staff or students from being required to refer to people with pronouns that do not correspond to the person’s gender.
The bill, which passed this week, also prohibits school employees from asking students what pronoun they use and prohibits employees from sharing their pronouns with students if the pronoun does not match the staff member’s gender .
In addition, the proposal would make it policy for all public schools that “a person’s sex is an immutable biological trait and that it is false to attribute to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to that person’s sex.”
DEATH PENALTY
DeSantis has signed two major death penalty bills this year.
The first ends a unanimous jury requirement in sentencing the death penalty, allowing the death penalty with a jury recommendation of at least 8-4 in favor of execution. Only three of the 27 states that impose the death penalty do not require unanimity. Alabama allows a 10-2 decision, and Missouri and Indiana let a judge decide when there is a split jury.
The change came in response to a verdict that spared the life of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter, who killed 17 people in 2018.
The other death penalty bill signed by DeSantis allows for the death penalty in child rape convictions, despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling barring the death penalty in such cases.
The law sought to get the conservative-controlled US Supreme Court to reconsider a 2008 ruling that found the use of the death penalty in child sexual assault cases unconstitutional.
Florida is among a handful of states with existing laws that allow the death penalty for child rape convictions, but has not used the punishment in light of the high court’s ruling. The Florida Supreme Court has also ruled against the use of capital punishment in sexual assault convictions.
DeSantis said he believed the Supreme Court’s decision was “wrong.”
PISTOLS
Floridians will be able to carry concealed weapons without a permit under a bill signed by DeSantis this session.
The new law will allow anyone who legally owns a gun in Florida to carry one without a permit. It means that no training or background check will be required to carry concealed weapons in public. It enters into force on July 1.
Nearly 3 million Floridians have a concealed handgun permit. While a background check and three-day waiting period will still be required to purchase a gun from a licensed dealer, they are not required for private transactions or gun exchanges.
DeSantis has said he thinks Florida should go even further and allow people to openly carry guns. Although some lawmakers have pushed for open streaming, it doesn’t appear the Legislature will pass such legislation this session.
Still, the governor has pushed the law, issuing a statement saying “Constitutional Carry is on the books” after signing it into law.
DIVERSITY
Another bill awaiting the governor’s signature is one that prohibits colleges from using state or federal funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a constant goal of DeSantis.
These initiatives, sometimes called DEI, have come under increasing criticism from Republicans, who argue the programs are racially divisive.
The proposal comes a year after he signed legislation called the Stop WOKE Act, which restricts certain conversations and analyzes based on race in schools and businesses. The law prohibits instruction that says members of a race are inherently racist or should feel guilty for past actions by others of the same race, among other things.
DISNEY
DeSantis also continued his long-running feud with Disney this year.
The company came into the spotlight for criticizing the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law last year.
As punishment, DeSantis dissolved the Disney World Autonomous District and appointed a new board of supervisors to oversee municipal services at the sprawling theme parks. But before the new board arrived, the company pushed through an 11th-hour deal that stripped the new supervisors of much of their authority.
Disney sued DeSantis in federal court in a case it said the governor waged a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company opposed the sexual orientation and gender identity law.
Now, DeSantis is poised to sign bills to improve state oversight of the resort’s monorail, as well as undo deals made by Disney’s board before the state takes over.
