By: Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Florida continues to wait for signs of a budget and paperwork for other pending special sessions.
In the meantime, the state bumps through the early stages of bill signing season, with Gov. Ron DeSantis drawing anticipated pushback on some of the measures he’s signed into law.
HERE COME THE LAWSUITS
DeSantis signed legislation Wednesday requiring voters to prove their citizenship in future elections. Voting rights groups filed separate legal challenges.
The bill (HB 991), part of which takes effect Jan. 1 — after the 2026 election cycle — is Florida’s version of the proposed federal Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which has stalled in the U.S. Senate.
As with the federal proposal, the state effort requires citizenship paperwork and a photo ID, such as a Florida driver’s license, U.S. passport or concealed carry permit, when an individual registers to vote and before they vote at the ballot box. Florida removed the use of student ID even if issued by a government agency.
DeSantis anticipated legal action against the measure, describing efforts to combat the law as a “song and dance.”
“They go to a liberal judge. The liberal judge sides with them. Then we appeal and we win,” DeSantis said at the Eisenhower Recreation Center in The Villages.
A lawsuit by the League of Women Voters of Florida, Common Cause, Florida Rising, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Hispanic Federation, and UnidosUS was filed in the federal U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida as DeSantis put ink to paper.
A second suit was filed later in the day by the Florida State Conference of Branches and Youth Units of the NAACP and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
Both contend Florida’s latest election changes violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, creating unnecessary barriers to voting.
“Many eligible voters do not have these documents and cannot obtain them for a variety of reasons—including because they were born without a birth certificate in the segregated South, because their documents were destroyed in a hurricane, or because they cannot afford the hundreds of dollars it costs to replace them,” according to the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The bill signing came a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing states to submit lists of U.S. citizens who will be of legal age to vote in the upcoming federal election. It also directs the U.S. Postal Service not to deliver ballots to anyone not on a list of eligible mail-in voters provided by the states 60 days before the election.
Trump, too, was sued by Democratic congressional leaders, voting rights groups and 21 states over the order.
JUDICIAL IMPEACHMENT PUSH
DeSantis created separate waves on Tuesday, when he signed into law a measure (HB 455) that prohibits felons convicted of violent and sexual crimes from being released prior to sentencing.
DeSantis used the bill signing ceremony to call on the state House to impeach 2nd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Tiffany Baker-Carper, who did not lock up Daniel Spencer as he awaited sentencing for his arrest in an underage sex sting.
Spencer reportedly had previously been in jail but had no violent criminal history. Yet, while awaiting sentencing, Spencer and Chloe Spencer were accused of beating and killing her 5-year-old daughter Melissa “Missy” Mogle.
“Until you start holding these judges accountable, they’re going to continue to find ways to benefit the criminal element,” DeSantis said.
The bill has been dubbed “Missy’s Law.”
Attorney General James Uthmeier followed up DeSantis’ comment with a letter to House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, requesting and offering assistance with impeachment proceedings “to ensure that Judge Baker-Carper never hears another case again.”
The Florida Legislative Black Caucus raised several issues with DeSantis’ proposal, noting that “impeachment must be based on verified evidence, not speculation or political pressure.”
“Every individual — regardless of position — is entitled to fairness, due process, and the presumption of innocence,” the caucus stated in a release. “Rushing to impeachment without a complete factual record undermines the very justice we seek to uphold.”
‘MY OFFICE WILL NOT ENFORCE’
On the first full day of Passover and heading into the Easter weekend, Uthmeier determined some state laws prohibiting tax dollars from going to religious schools are unconstitutional. And Uthmeier concluded that the First Amendment prohibition on government established religion only applies at the federal level.
Uthmeier’s action intends to open the door for religious charter schools and state-funded scholarships going to religious universities.
“Unfortunately, some Florida laws prohibit religious schools from accessing public funds. That’s why during this Holy Week I issued a formal legal opinion concluding those laws are unconstitutional and my office will not enforce them,” Uthmeier stated in a video posted on X.
In his legal brief, he concluded states are free to impose their own state religion.
“(The Establishment Clause) did not impose the same restriction on the states. In fact, many states at the Framing had established churches,” Uthmeier wrote.
Also, the First Amendment doesn’t bar the states from “encouraging” religion, especially Christianity, Uthmeier asserted.
A deadlocked U.S. Supreme Court last year effectively upheld an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision rejecting a push to create a Catholic charter school. The court split 4-4 on the case, as Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself.
LANDING ‘A FRIEND’
On Monday, DeSantis signed without ceremony a bill (HB 919) that will rename Palm Beach International Airport as “President Donald J. Trump International Airport.”
While he clashed with Trump when running for the Republican presidential nomination, DeSantis indicated that’s in the past.
“Well, the Legislature passed it. And he’s a friend of mine,” DeSantis said when asked about the bill while in Tampa on Tuesday. “He’s the sitting president from Florida. The first one we’ve ever had from Florida. And so, I thought it was appropriate. I know he’s very excited about it.”
House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, called the measure a misplacement of priorities by state lawmakers.
“The people of Florida did not ask for this,” Driskell said in a statement. “It’s clear Tallahassee Republicans care more about political stunts than they care about your wallet.”
STORY OF THE WEEK:
Florida is hit with two federal lawsuits as Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the latest election changes into law.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“I believe our tax system is immoral and runs counter to everything we believe as Americans and definitely as the people of the free state of Florida.” — Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, R- Belleview, stating his intentions Wednesday to put a property tax proposal before voters through the citizen initiative process.
Be the first to leave a comment on this article.