Republican lawmakers in Florida like to say they stand for freedom, for parental rights, for the voices of those marginalized by “woke” liberalism. But behind the curtain, their actions smack of something else — hypocrisy, opportunism and a cynical belief that Floridians will buy whatever they’re selling. Three reports this past week underscore the bubble in Tallahassee and the two-faced nature of some Republican priorities.
Take Gov. Ron DeSantis’ escalating war against The Walt Disney Co. Last week, the governor called for a new era in Florida where Disney no longer enjoys any outsized political influence. To illustrate his point, DeSantis singled out a special carveout that legislators approved for Disney in a 2021 bill that aimed to crack down on “Big Tech” social media companies. DeSantis blasted the carveout, which the House sponsor acknowledged was meant to help Disney.
“At the 11th hour when the Legislature was doing this, Disney got them to put in a carveout for theme parks,” DeSantis complained during a news conference Thursday. “I’m thinking to myself, ‘This is ridiculous.’ Honestly, it was embarrassing.” So much so, the governor said, he considered vetoing the legislation.
Yet DeSantis’ own staff helped write the carveout. As the Tampa Bay Times’ Emily L. Mahoney reported, emails between staff working for the governor’s office and the House show that DeSantis’ legislative affairs director was in communication with Disney to propose bill language written by the company. The emails were first reported by the Seeking Rents newsletter, which shared them with the Times. Asked for comment, DeSantis’ spokesperson was uncharacteristically tight lipped. Spokespersons for the House and Senate had nothing to say.
DeSantis upped his public fight with Disney after the company paused all political contributions in the state following a messy dispute with DeSantis over House Bill 1557, which critics dubbed the “Don’t say gay” bill. DeSantis insists the legislation is needed to stop public schools from teaching inappropriate lessons about sexual orientation and gender identity to young students.
If young students need protection, why are the approximately 340,000 children attending charter schools in Florida not apparently affected by the law? The measure applies to the state statute relating to district school board powers, a section from which charter schools are exempted. The Senate sponsor, Ocala Republican Sen. Dennis Baxley, said it was not his intent to apply the law to charters, the privately run alternatives to traditional public schools, which are funded with public money and enjoy broad Republican support. The same holds true for HB 1467, a measure refining how schools select books, which DeSantis signed into law March 25. Unlike other special exceptions that charter schools enjoy, these exceptions have nothing to do with the smaller size and niche role that distinguish most charters from traditional public schools. So if young children deserve protection and parents deserve more control, why are charter school students excluded?
These developments come as Florida’s public colleges and universities began issuing voluntary surveys this week to students and employees in an effort to gauge their political leanings and the political climate on their campuses. Schools are required to conduct the surveys under the state’s “intellectual diversity” law passed last year by the Legislature and signed into law by DeSantis. Republicans said the measure was needed because too many people on college campuses feel a need to censor themselves. Employees will be asked if they inject their viewpoint into their teachings, while students will be asked how strongly they believe that “my professors or course instructors use class time to express their own social or political beliefs.”
Though Republicans defend this as a free-speech exercise, the move has sparked predictable blowback. The president of United Faculty of Florida has called for a boycott to the surveys, which critics say could be used to identify and target faculty members. If anything, the law is self-defeating; many will decline to participate, leaving the survey with little practical value. A measure supporters say is intended to broaden academic freedom will only drive campus speech further underground, creating a chilling effect that has no place in a college environment.
These laws aren’t about fighting corporate abuse, protecting children or unharnessing speech on campus. They’re about keeping large, influential employers from challenging Republican talking points on social and cultural issues. They’re about further painting traditional public schools as breeding grounds for public disdain. And they’re about getting university faculty in line with the powers that be in Tallahassee. And Florida is weaker because of it.
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Editorials are the institutional voice of the Tampa Bay Times. The members of the Editorial Board are Editor of Editorials Graham Brink, Sherri Day, Sebastian Dortch, John Hill, Jim Verhulst and Chairman Paul Tash. Follow @TBTimes_Opinion on Twitter for more opinion news.
