What A Week: Inhuman Nature
A Florida For All Legislative Update: Week 7 of Florida's 2024 Legislative Session
Hi Friends,
There is a fight brewing in Tallahassee where it seems that the legislature might actually grow a spine and stand up to Gov. DeSantis. But don’t get too excited, it’s not for any meaningful reason that would help working Floridians. A few weeks ago we talked about Senate President Kathleen Passidomo refusing to move forward “culture war” bills that DeSantis had recently endorsed such as the bill to protect Confederate monuments or the bill to ban pride flags from Government buildings.
This week, they appear to be taking things a step further and calling the Governor’s bluff by sending HB 1, a social media ban for children under 16 that he publicly stated opposition to, to his desk. This means that the Governor only has 7 days to sign or veto the bill. If he vetoes the bill, the legislature will have the opportunity to override his veto with a ⅔ vote. It also seems as if the legislature is planning to do the same thing with the state budget, forcing Gov. DeSantis to make his line item vetoes before the end of session to give them an opportunity to buck against his attempts at political retribution.
So what's gonna happen? Will Gov. DeSantis cave like the weak Governor he is and make up some excuse to sign HB 1? Will he play nice with minimal vetoes to the budget? Or will things completely fall apart and an all out war between the legislature and the Governor begins? We’ll have to wait and see, but we’re putting our popcorn in the microwave just in case.
Meanwhile, many terrible corporate bills are still moving and it’s looking like working Floridians are about to get screwed by the Legislature yet again.
But Legislative Session is almost over! With only two weeks of session and 2 days of committee hearings left, working Floridians’ nightmare is coming to a close. And while committee hearings are almost done, some of the most interesting stuff has yet to come.
Let’s get into it.
ON OUR RADAR 👀
HB 1289 / SB 1260 Attacks on Unemployment Benefits by Rep. Shane Abbott (R) Sen. Jay Trumbull (R)
This bill initially sought to make it harder to access unemployment benefits and required individuals looking for work and receiving unemployment benefits to apply for five jobs each week, ban them from missing more than three interviews for any reason (regardless of illness, lack of childcare, etc.), and require them to accept a job offer within two days of receiving it irrespective of what it is. Most of this language was written by our favorite corporate-backed, anti-worker think tank, the Foundation for Government Accountability, or FGA, which is also working behind the scenes to pass bills rolling back child labor protections and further erode our already intentionally broken unemployment benefits process.
Thankfully, much of the FGA language is gone. However, the bill still contains language requiring that someone on unemployment return to work if recalled by their employer and creates many new requirements for verification that could slow down the process of receiving their unemployment benefits. There is still one more hearing left for this bill in the Senate and we are watching out to see what changes.
Check out AFL-CIO’s Legislative Director, Rich Templin, testimony against the bill here:
Curious about government corruption in Florida? Watch our video about the FGA and its deep ties to the Republican Party:
HB 651 / SB 476 - Fetal Personhood Bill by Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulika (R) and Sen. Erin Grall (R)
In a classic attempt to attack women’s reproductive rights, this bill originally targeted both mothers and healthcare providers by allowing parents of an “unborn child” to seek civil damages for wrongful death against both healthcare providers who offer reproductive healthcare and the women who often require it. The legislation has now been amended to permit civil action only against doctors. However, the entire bill is still a despicable attack on our reproductive freedoms and healthcare. To no one’s surprise it is making its way through the Legislature and has its final committee hearing next Monday in the Senate Rules Committee.
Watch this testimony from Kara Gross of the ACLU:
HB 433 / SB 1492 - Attack Working Families and Local Freedoms by Rep. Tiffany Esposito (R) Sen. Jay Trumbull (R)
The House version of this bill would stop local governments from requiring businesses who contract with them to pay living wages to their employees, provide minimum benefits, or ensure access to drinking water for employees working outdoors in extreme heat.
This bill shows a blatant disregard for the struggles faced by the backbone of our society – working Floridians. It's a slap in the face to democracy and local freedoms. As inflation continues to soar in Florida and decrease throughout the rest of the country, this bill now proposes that we cut the living wages of tens of thousands of workers across the state.
Working families from Pensacola to Key West deserve the freedom to earn a living wage, to feed their families, and to afford a safe place to live. And yet, the state legislature returns every single session with new proposals to put them at a disadvantage and prop up the profits of greedy corporate executives.
The Senate version of the bill has its final hearing on Monday in the Senate Rules Committee. The House version had its final hearing last Thursday and it was quite a doozy. More on that later.
HB 601 / SB 576 - End civilian oversight of police departments by Rep. Wyman Duggan (R) and Sen. Blaise Ingoglia (R)
This legislation would prohibit independent review boards from investigating police misconduct. Because of this, 21 civilian review boards currently face elimination. This would result in a reduction of transparency and accountability for law enforcement.
This bill is yet another example of preemption legislation that seeks to strip away our local freedoms and make our communities less safe.
The House version of the bill passed the floor this week with one Democrat, Rep. Silvers joining Republicans to vote yes.
Passed the floor in the House this week.
Here’s a clip of Rep. Keen in debate: “I may be the only member in here who has actively served on one of these boards. (...) If it’s not important for your city, you don’t have to have it. But we should not preempt them (...).”
HB 1471 / SB 1746 - Union Busting Glitch Bill by Sen. Blaise Ingoglia (R) and Rep. Dean Black (R)
Following last year's union-busting SB 256, this proposed bill comes with a touch of deja vu, as it shares the same sponsors (two of the absolute worst legislators in the building). It broadens the exemption for unions by roping in 911 dispatchers and EMTs. It also turns up the volume on union financial reporting requirements, demanding even more intricate details about their spending in the annual audited financial statement mandated by SB 256.
The bill generously hands over the power to the DeSantis-appointed Public Employee Relations Commission (PERC) to play the role of financial watchdog. PERC now gets to decide which revenue and spending categories must be spelled out in these statements.
But wait, there's more! The bill expands PERC's authority, making it easier to revoke a union's certification. And just for kicks, it narrows the exemption for public-transit employees, making it harder for them to unionize. The attacks on labor just keep coming.
The bill passed in the Senate this week.
SPILLING THE TEA 🫖
This week the House State Affairs Committee introduced a brand new elections bill, PCB SAC 6. You may be wondering how that is possible given that the bill filing deadline was the first day of session. Given the current supermajority, the Republicans can pretty much make their own rules without any consequences. In the final week of last year’s Legislative Session, Republicans similarly dropped an elections bill out of nowhere, SB 7050, which acted as an omnibus voter suppression bill creating more barriers for marginalized voters to participate in our democracy. SB 7050 was 100 pages long and dropped less than 24 hours before its first public hearing, giving advocates very little time to read and analyze what the bill actually did. The bill flew through the process and was quickly approved by Gov. DeSantis.
This session though, Republicans are having far less success with their attempts at voter suppression. The proposed elections bill which popped up on Monday would create a new primary system, requiring a candidate to receive over 50% of the vote in order to earn their party’s nomination, leading to 2 separate primary elections within one cycle. This was seen as an attempt to thwart Congressman Matt Gaetz’s rumored 2026 gubernatorial campaign. In general, this primary structure protects establishment candidates with more money to burn, and deters other primary challengers. The bill would also significantly limit access to ballot drop off boxes, which many Democratic voters use to participate in elections.
However, before this bill could even have its first hearing, it was postponed and removed from the House State Affairs agenda. Many prominent Republicans quickly took to social media to condemn the new proposal, including Rep. Matt Gaetz, Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, Sen. Joe Gruters, and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson (another rumored candidate for 2026). Listen- even a broken clock is right twice a day.
This week, Speaker of the House Paul Renner poured cold water on rumors that this bill might be making a comeback, stating that they were running out of time this session to pass the bill. All the same, we know that if they wanted to make time for it, they could. They’ve certainly done crazier things. We have a feeling there might be some other reasons they won’t be considering this legislation, and while it certainly seems this bill is dead for this year, we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for any sneaky attempts to pass more voter suppression legislation.
CLOWN OF THE WEEK 🤡
This week, we’re switching things up a bit. During the hearing for HB 433, the bill to slash the wages of tens of thousands for working families and ban water and shade requirements for outdoor workers, members of the committee put on such a stellar performance that we had to award Clown of the Week to ALL of the Republicans on the House Commerce Committee.
This was the final committee stop for HB 433. You may recall that in the first committee hearing for HB 433, Chair Sirois (who happens to also sit on the Commerce Committee) cut ALL public testimony on the bill and didn’t allow anyone to speak. In its last hearing, public testimony was also limited and this time, Chair Rommel cut public testimony down to only 30 seconds… They clearly do not want to hear from the people whose lives they are endangering.
Chair Rommel, a man who looks like a cartoon Bond villain, has previously sponsored legislation to preempt living wages entirely and is very passionate about making working Floridians’ lives harder while enriching corporate interests. As Democrats asked questions to Rep. Esposito, the sponsor of this bill and the Republican Whip for the committee, Chair Rommel frequently intercepted questions, answering for her and scoffing at members who felt disrespected by her avoidance.
Testimony from the public was particularly heartbreaking. If you take just one thing away from this post, let it be Laura Muñoz of Florida Student Power Network’s testimony about how a lack of heat stress protections has tragically and needlessly impacted her family:
Following her testimony, Chair Rommel muttered his condolences for her loss and quickly moved on to the next speaker. He did this several times throughout the committee as farmworkers from Central Florida who traveled all the way to Tallahassee for this committee shared their stories about how they have lost family members. At the conclusion of public testimony, Rep. Barnaby, a man famous for calling Trans Floridians “demons, mutants, and imps” last session, attempted to minimize the loss of members of the public who spoke against the bill. Rep. Barnaby claimed that it sounded like they had other health issues and there was nothing they could do about it…
Rep. Steele, by far the wealthiest member of the legislature, also debated in favor of the bill. It must be easy to laugh off the thousands of Floridians who will see their pay cut in the state with the highest level of inflation when you’re worth over $400 million. Maybe sit this one out buddy.
Meanwhile, Rep. Dottie Joseph of Miami was having absolutely none of this. In her debate she criticized Chair Rommel for cutting testimony to 30 seconds when there was so much time left in the committee. She also called him out for offering his empty condolences to members of the public when they could actually do something about it instead of passing this bill.
This was the last bill heard in the Commerce Committee and at the end there was close to an hour left. This hearing was a complete slap in the face for working Floridians. It seems there is no bottom for how low this legislature is willing to go to prop up the inflated profits of corporations.
RAYS OF SUNSHINE ☀️
We are thrilled to uplift our partners at Central Florida Jobs with Justice for leading an ENORMOUS victory this week! Orange County Commissioners are allocating $4.5 million to eradicate medical debt, which means upwards of 100,000 Orange County residents will have their medical debt erased!!
Orange County has faced a medical crisis unlike anywhere else in the country, and it is now set to be the first Florida county to use leftover COVID-19 relief funds to clear the medical debt of its most vulnerable residents:
“Today is a testament to the organizing efforts and unwavering persistence of community leaders who amplified their stories and fearlessly championed those burdened by medical debt. It not only underscores our collective power, but the notion that behind every policy change are working people committed to uplifting their communities. After all, the $4.5 million Orange County is allocating towards erasing $400 million in debt belongs to us. It’s OUR money that was allotted by the federal government and there’s nobody better equipped to steer our communities in the right direction than the people of Orange County. As the commission has until December to finalize their decision, the organizing continues to take it all the way 🙌🏽”
If you or anyone know is impacted or wants to get involved in CFJWJ’s healthcare advocacy, learn more at bit.ly/transformflhealth. Together we know we can protect our freedom to thrive and make elected leaders fund our futures.
That’s it for now friends. Until next week! (just two more weeks y’all… two more weeks)
Onwards and upwards,
Your Friends at Florida For All
