In the DLCC’s Good Bill, Bad Bill series, we compare the state legislation introduced by Republicans this year to the bills being proposed by Democrats to highlight the major priority differences between the two parties.
Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature has been responsible for some of the most destructive policies we’ve seen over the last decade. From the offensive inaction after the Pulse Nightclub and Parkland shootings to a complete gutting of the state’s unemployment system to the undermining of the wildly popular voter initiative to re-enfranchise people formerly convicted of a felony, Florida Republicans are in a league of their own. But for every horrible bill pushed by the state GOP, Democrats are right there advocating forward-thinking legislation and positive change.
Democrats are still trying to bring Florida into the 21st century when it comes to civil rights protections. This year alone, Democrats have introduced legislation to ban racial discrimination based on one’s hairstyle, mandate gender pay equity, and outlaw conversion therapy for minors.
Republicans are uninterested in expanding protections for vulnerable folks, instead pushing bills that promote discrimination against the LGBTQ community. The GOP is seeking to criminalize doctors who provide gender-affirming treatment to trans youth, overturn local laws banning LGBTQ employment discrimination, and do away with local bans on conversion therapy for minors.
The NRA has a powerful lobbying arm and they’ve had a stranglehold over the Florida legislature for years. But Democrats keep fighting for legislation that has widespread popular support, like measures to keep guns away from people convicted of domestic violence.
Unfortunately, Republicans have abandoned the safety of their constituents to push the NRA myth that we need more guns, not less. This year, they introduced a “guns-in-churches” bill to allow people to carry concealed weapons into places of worship and local government meetings.
Abortion remains very difficult to access for low-income folks in Florida. Democrats have fought to lessen that burden by making them more affordable, lifting regulations that force clinics to close, and removing mandatory waiting periods that needlessly require patients to take multiple days off of work.
Republicans meanwhile have jumped into the GOP competition over which state can be the most oppressive on reproductive rights, introducing a ban on abortion after six weeks, before most people even realize they’re pregnant.
If Republicans remain in control of the state legislature after 2020, they’ll be able to gerrymander their own district maps to keep themselves in power for another decade. Following the lead of a number of other states, Democrats are advocating for an independent, nonpartisan redistricting commission so that politicians don’t get to choose their own voters.
But Republicans are working to limit public engagement in the political process. In 2018, Floridians overwhelmingly voted in favor of a ballot initiative to re-enfranchise nearly a million people formerly convicted of a felony. The GOP is determined to never let something like that happen again, so they’re pushing legislation that makes it harder for citizens to add an initiative to the ballot.
Florida’s minimum wage is an unacceptable and unlivable $8.46 an hour. Democrats are fighting to raise the minimum wage and for automatic annual increases to adjust for inflation so we don’t have to have this fight every year.
Republicans are working to undermine the labor unions that fight for fair wages for working people, introducing legislation that would insert employers into the organizing process and make it harder for unions to bargain for their members.
