The bill is the latest in Florida aimed at dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion efforts
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NEED TO KNOW
- Florida lawmakers this week approved legislation to prohibit local governments from funding or promoting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, sending the measure to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis
- Locally elected officials who violate the bill may be removed from office, and local governments found in violation could face lawsuits from any resident who chooses to sue
- Equal rights advocates and opponents of the legislation have criticized its broad language and sweeping penalties
Florida lawmakers this week approved legislation to prohibit local governments from funding or promoting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, sending the measure to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign it into law.
Locally elected officials who violate the measure may be removed from office, and local governments found in violation could face lawsuits from any resident who chooses to sue. The measure prohibits municipalities in Florida from issuing even resolutions that reference diversity, equity and inclusion, and bars cities and counties from establishing a DEI office or employing a DEI officer.
The legislation defines diversity, equity and inclusion as “any effort” to “manipulate or otherwise influence” the composition of government employees; “promote or provide preferential treatment or special benefits”; or adopt programming or activities “designed or implemented” with reference to race, gender or sex.
“The term does not include the use of equal opportunity or equal employment opportunity materials designed to inform a person about the prohibition against discrimination based on protected status under state or federal law,” according to the bill, which was introduced in January.
Florida’s Republican-dominated House passed the measure on Tuesday, March 10, in a 77–37 vote. Five Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing the measure. The state Senate, also controlled by Republicans, passed the bill earlier this month, with a largely party-line vote.
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Equal rights advocates and opponents of the legislation have warned that the bill could preemptively chill cities and counties from supporting diverse communities through its broad language and sweeping penalties.
“Once again, Governor DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are advancing one of the most sweeping and extreme bills in the country—this time threatening decades of local progress supporting diverse communities, including the LGBTQ community,” Joe Saunders, senior political director for the state LGBTQ rights group Equality Florida, said in a statement earlier this month, after the bill passed the Senate.
“This legislation is a sledgehammer aimed at cities and counties that dare to recognize and address the diversity of the people they serve,” Saunders said in the March 4 statement, adding, “A commitment to equity and inclusion makes us better.”
Florida Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat and the first openly LGBTQ Latino lawmaker elected to the state legislature, said during a floor debate that the bill “is rotten to its core.”
State Sen. Clay Yarborough, a Republican and the bill’s primary sponsor in the Senate, has defended the measure as fulfilling the body’s obligation to uphold “standards of transparency and accountability.” While introducing the legislation, Yarborough claimed several municipalities had spent taxpayer dollars inappropriately.
“If counties and cities were not taking official actions that fund and promote these types of things,” he said referring to diversity initiatives, “the bill would not be necessary.”
Speaking to reporters earlier this month, Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez said the bill would not prevent cities or counties from hosting events such as LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations.
“That is inaccurate,” he said, reported the Florida Phoenix. “Do we want taxpayer dollars to be used to put on certain events that have to do with DEI and promote it by local governments? No, we don’t want taxpayer dollars used for that. But that doesn’t inhibit the ability for local governments to have a gay pride festival if that is what they choose to do.”
If signed, the law would be the latest in Florida aimed at dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. DeSantis, who has criticized the DEI acronym as standing for “discrimination, exclusion, and indoctrination,” banned public colleges and universities from spending money on diversity programs in 2023 and signed a controversial education-related bill in 2022 prohibiting classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity.
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