Lawmakers showing a familiar attitude

For want of a better name, let’s just call it the Trumpization of the Florida Legislature.

Yes, folks, if you didn’t get enough hate and fear mongering during the campaign, you can get more if you just take a peek at what might happen in Tallahassee in the coming months.

You say you need more anti-immigrant talk because you didn’t get enough during the campaign? You say you attended the Trump rallies where immigrants were blasted, but you’d like to see more of that attitude in Florida? You could be in luck. One of the more sensible things our lawmakers did two years ago was allow children of undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition, if they had attended at least three years of high school in the state.

It was a matter of fairness for youngsters trying to find a bit of the American Dream, rather than being stuck in a low-wage job forever. In-state tuition is more than three times lower than the out-ofstate rate, so the law opened up a college education to many young people who wouldn’t have had that chance.

Ah, but that tuition help may not last long. Florida Sen. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, has filed a bill that would take away that in-state tuition rate from some undocumented students — students who might actually face deportation.

Steube, now chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and one of the most conservative members of a conservative band of lawmakers, said he filed the bill because he had heard about it from concerned constituents during his primary campaign.

I can just picture some of those constituents taking their pick-up trucks to another raucous Trump rally, getting the anti-immigrant fix they needed, then coming back to Steube and asking why are we giving these immigrants a break on tuition?

“... there are thousands of students who have taken advantage of the in-state tuition bill since it’s been passed,” said Francesca Menes, policy and advocacy coordinator of the Florida Immigrant Coalition.

Ah, but those were the old days. Before our lawmakers got emboldened. There’s more. If you are one of those allAmerican red-blooded folks who think we just don’t have enough guns in enough places in Florida, you may have reason to smile soon. In fact, this may make you smile even more than yelling “Lock her up!”

Because Trump-ization is setting in deep with our lawmakers.

The Legislature tried to stop the constant barrage of progun laws the last year or two, but they now have a little extra zip in their step. One of the reasons may be because Trump has said how much he loves the National Rifle Association and adores gun owners. That kind of attitude is spreading to Tallahassee.

Rep. Jake Raburn, R-Lithia, wherever that is, has filed a bill that would allow concealed weapons permit holders to carry their beloved loaded guns into airport terminals.

We may even have the revival of campus carry, which failed last year. We might even allow lawmakers to carry guns into the Capitol, which could really spice things up when a debate gets heated.

With all this Trump influence filtering down to our lawmakers, I have another Trump idea that would work great.

Let’s build a wall around Tallahassee, and keep those legislators from infiltrating the rest of the state. An idea whose time has come.