ICYMI: News you may have missed in the past week

News from the 2022 Florida legislative session that you may have missed last week.

» Lawsuit asks federal court to set Florida’s congressional district map

Well, here we go: With Gov. Ron DeSantis vowing to veto a congressional redistricting plan, a lawsuit filed late Friday asks a federal court to set new U.S. House districts that would be used in this fall’s elections. The crux of the lawsuit is that DeSantis’ threat to veto a redistricting plan drawn up by state lawmakers jeopardizes the chances of reaching agreement on a map and that judges should step in. “Unlike the Legislature, Governor DeSantis has demonstrated that he is not willing to abide by the law, or sign a congressional plan that does, making an impasse highly likely,” said the federal lawsuit, filed in the federal Northern District of Florida. This lawsuit is the latest twist in the once-a-decade reapportionment process after DeSantis in January proposed a congressional plan that differed significantly from maps being considered by the Republican-controlled Senate and House. DeSantis wants a map that likely would be more favorable to Republicans. But critics argue that changes sought by DeSantis would be unconstitutional, at least in part because they could lead to fewer minorities getting elected.

» Bill opening school library books, curriculum up to public scrutiny heads to DeSantis

After it passed the Florida Senate earlier on the same day, the Florida House last week passed a school-board term limits bill (HB 1467) that includes a controversial provision to intensify scrutiny of schoolbooks. In a 79-41 vote nearly along party lines, Rep. Andrew Learned, D-Brandon, was the only Dem to vote with Republicans for the proposal. A part of the bill that has generated significantly more controversy than the term limits aims to give parents and members of the public increased access to the process of selecting and removing school library books and instructional materials. For instance, committees that meet for the purpose of making recommendations to school boards on the “ranking, eliminating, or selecting” of instructional materials would be required to include parents of students in a school district.

» Florida legislature passes measure to create office of

‘election cops’

In the latest battle over Florida’s elections system, lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to a bill that would make a series of changes, including creating a state office to investigate voting irregularities. The bill is ready to go to DeSantis, who has called for such changes. Fueled by former President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, Republicans across the country have sought to revamp election laws to address what they contend is fraud. The debate last Wednesday echoed arguments that have raged for more than a year, with Republicans saying elections need to be as secure as possible and Democrats contending that the changes are aimed at making it harder to vote. In part, the bill would require the governor, working with the commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, to appoint special officers to investigate allegations of election violations, with at least one officer in each region of the state. Another part of the bill would require county supervisors of elections to annually scour voter rolls for potentially ineligible voters in a process known as “list maintenance.” Under current law, supervisors are required to do list maintenance every other year.

» Bill barring instruction on race-related issues passes Senate, heads to guv

The Florida Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would restrict how race-related issues can be taught in public schools and in workplace training sessions, giving final legislative approval to DeSantis’ fight against critical race theory. An emotionally raw debate that played out over two days in the Senate centered on whether the bill lives up to the “Individual Freedom” title given to it by its sponsors or whether it seeks to obscure the uglier parts of American history and stifle the speech of teachers and businesses. Under the measure, school instruction would constitute discrimination if it “compels” students to believe certain concepts that are spelled out in the bill. For example, instruction would be labeled discriminatory if it led a person to believe that they bear “responsibility for, or should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment because of, actions committed in the past” by people of the same race or sex. The measure also takes aim at instruction that would cause students to feel “guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress” because of past actions by members of the same race, sex or national origin. Democrats argued that the bill is part of an attempt by Republicans throughout the country to rewrite the nation’s past.