In 2019, bad bills became bad laws

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis won last year by a narrow margin — four-tenths of one percent — in the state’s closest gubernatorial race ever. Yet, in his first year in office, he’s governed as if he had an overwhelming mandate for right-wing views and wrongheaded policies, and he got the Republican-majority Florida Legislature to go along.

The result was arguably the most destructive legislative session in modern time.

Legislators approved 17 bills that DeSantis should have vetoed during the 2019 legislative session, which ran from early March to early May. The bad bills that got the green light included multiple assaults on home rule, environmental and consumer protection and the public’s right to propose and pass constitutional amendments.

DeSantis and legislators also eroded the public’s right to open government and public records, damaged the public schools by diverting funds to charters and unregulated private schools, gave unwarranted tax refunds to large corporations, created a monumental toll road boondoggle, and yielded to the irresponsible expedient of arming teachers.

There were some positive achievements: Legislation allowing smokable medical marijuana; allowing importation of prescription drugs from Canada; and finally making texting while driving a primary offense so that traffic police can crack down on it and save lives.

We’ve produced an online scorecard of how legislators from Broward and Palm Beach counties voted on these major bills. We recommend you review them when making your choices for the 2020 elections. Below is the list of major bills, our views about each bill and the House, Senate vote tallies. DeSantis signed nearly all the bills.

1. Arming teachers (SB 7030). Contained good features to implement MSD High School Public Safety recommendations, but the provision to allow school boards to rely on armed teachers risks losing lives instead of saving them. Senate 22-17; House 65-47. DeSantis signed.

2. Tuition vouchers (SB 7070). For the first time, money goes straight from state treasury, — not just by tax credits — to unregulated private schools, most of which will be religious and can cherrypick their students. Florida Supreme Court tossed a similar scheme in 2006, but DeSantis is counting on his high court appointees to overturn precedent. S 23-17; H 76-39. DeSantis signed.

3. Boosting charter schools, curbing home rule (HB 7123). The Legislature didn’t stop with giving $158 million to charter schools for maintenance and none to public schools. This bad provision, buried in a tax cut bill to sugar-coat it, requires school districts where voters approve extra taxes for the public schools to share revenue with charters. S 22-17; H 69-44. DeSantis signed.

4. Sanctuary cities (CS/CS/CS SB 168) Red meat for Donald Trump Republicans. A likely unconstitutional invasion of local government. Empowers the governor to remove sheriffs and others who refuse to hold suspected undocumented immigrants at the federal government’s request even if there is no warrant or court order. Fosters real crime by discouraging undocumented immigrants from reporting it. S 22-18; H 68-45. DeSantis signed.

5. Community Development and Housing (HB 7103). One of Legislature’s worst acts ever. A loser-pays provision threatens citizens with having to pay a developer’s legal fees for unsuccessful court action claiming violation of a local comprehensive plan. Also requires county governments to pay developers the cost of required low-cost housing. S 23-17; H 81-25. DeSantis signed.

6. Attorney Fees and Costs (HB 829). A bill that guts home rule. and damages the environment all in one nasty package. Makes cities pay the winner’s legal fees if a lawsuit overturns a local ordinance because it conflicts with state law. Also, it specifically bans local laws, if they’re stricter than state regulation, on the use of human sewage sludge as agricultural fertilizer. This bill was a gift to developers, polluters, factory farms and others with special friends in Tallahassee. S 25-14; H 77-31, DeSantis signed.

7. Vegetable Gardens. (SB 82). More harm to home rule. This Tallahassee-knows-best bill subverts home rule by forbidding Miami Gardens (and all other cities) from banning front-yard vegetable gardens. It also reportedly upsets a range of local regulations to promote urban food gardens. None of this was the Legislature’s legitimate business. S 35-5: H 93-16. DeSantis signed.

8. Private Property Rights. (HB 1159). Still more destruction to home rule and environmentalism. It forbids cities from requiring property owners to prune or remove dangerous trees. It forbids city-employed foresters from certifying whether a tree should be removed and gives that plum to a “certified arborist”— presumably employed by developers. It also bars cities from requiring that trees be replanted to replace those cut down. A particular threat to canopied roads that are the capital city’s pride and joy. S 27-16; H 77-36. DeSantis signed.

9. Banning local straw bans (HB 771). This attack on home rule would have prohibited cities from banning plastic straws to protect the environment. DeSantis vetoed this, momentarily lulling environmentalists and home rule advocates into assuming he was on their side. They soon learned better. S 24-15; H 87-23. DeSantis vetoed.

10. Transportation (SB 7068). Tolls roads to nowhere bill. The worst boondoggle since the illfated Cross Florida Barge Canal. Requires construction of three toll roads of undocumented need, including one to state line for which Georgia plans no connection. It’s for wealthy landowners, road contractors and engineers, from whom campaign contributions will flow. Senate Democrats surrendered en masse. Public outrage stopped the barge canal; it needs to stop this. S 37-1: H 76-36. DeSantis signed.

11. Citizen initiatives (HB 5). This aims at thwarting petition drives to amend Constitution in ways that Legislature and lobbyist friends don’t want, such as higher minimum wage, assault weapons ban and open primaries. Its many onerous provisions include ban on paying petition-gatherers by how many legitimate voters they sign up; it’s plainly a reaction to the successful Amendment 4 initiative to restore voting rights to ex-felons. S 29-11: H 67-43. DeSantis, who opposed Amendment 4, signed this dreadful bill.

12. Voting rights (SB 7066). Republican majority gave a thumb in the eye to the 65 percent of voters who approved Amendment 4 by stipulating that ex-felons must pay all fines and court costs as well as court-ordered restitution before regaining the right to vote. The amendment was ambiguous on those issues and the Legislature should have left them alone. This voter suppression bill does provide a way for judges to substitute community service but provides no guidelines. S 39-1; H 67-42. DeSantis signed.

13. Parental consent for abortions (HB 1335). Would have required the written consent of a parent or guardian for a minor to have an abortion. This is stricter than present law, which requires only “notice” but it continues to allow judicial waiver. A doctor in violation would commit a thirddegree felony. This is similar to anti-abortion legislation being introduced in receptive legislatures in other states and a 2020 campaign issue. H 69-44; No Senate vote.

14. Hospital licensure. (HB 21). Medical economics is a conspicuous exception to the theory that competition drives prices down. Sophisticated medical facilities are so expensive that Florida required proof of an unmet need to build a hospital or expand one. This bill repealed that requirement. It’s a free-for-all hospital construction bill. S 23-17; H 81-34. DeSantis signed.

15. Lottery Games. (HB 629). This was a good bill, but DeSantis vetoed it, citing estimates that it would cost the state $161 million over three years in lost revenue. Florida should not be exploiting compulsive gamblers. The stipulated warnings on lottery products would have been mild. S 27-13, H 98-8. DeSantis vetoed.

16. Corporate income tax. (HB 7127) Wasting a chance to correct a mistake it made in 2018 that is costing $540 million for the benefit of Florida’s wealthiest corporations, the Legislature voted to give them perhaps another $1 billion in the next two years in tax cuts. S 39-1; H 71-41. DeSantis signed.

17. Closing public records (SB CS/CS/CS SB 248). This shields any possible details, including those routinely needed by real estate brokers, banks and appraisers, that might reveal the home address of any present or former civilian employee of a law enforcement agency, and it extends the same cloak of total darkness to police officers, judges and others who are entitled to keep their home addresses out of the public records. DeSantis signed despite a veto request from the First Amendment Foundation, which pointed out that reporters have used public data to discover illegal activity at homes owned by public officials. Nearly unanimous vote. Only state Sen. Lori Berman voted no. DeSantis signed.

18. Anti-Semitism in schools (CS/CS/CS HB 741). A good idea went too far by potentially punishing legitimate criticism of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and its treatment of the inhabitants. Unanimous passage. S 40-0; H 114-0. DeSantis signed.

19. Administration of Justice (CS/HB 7125). The Legislature spoiled an otherwise progressive criminal justice reform bill with a provision automatically sealing millions of criminal records of dismissed or discharged cases, even for spousal abusers and repeat offenders. Procedures already existed to erase criminal histories by court order. The First Amendment Foundation asked DeSantis to veto. S 39-1: H 114-0. DeSantis signed.

Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O’Hara, Sergio Bustos, Steve Bousquet and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson.