Blockbuster Session for DeSantis Agenda in Florida

Ron DeSantis is expected to launch his presidential bid for the 2024 U.S. election today. The Florida governor will be competing with former president Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, who was the first notable Republican to announce his campaign back in November.

DeSantis' announcement has been widely expected, not only because of the usual donor invitations and behind-the-scenes chatter, but also because he has prepared a bill together with the Florida legislature that would allow him to run for president while maintaining his status as governor. DeSantis has finalized a number of sweeping laws changes from the 2023 Florida legislative session that underline his status as a conservative hardliner who is tough on crime and just as unforgiving when it comes LGBTQ, abortion and diversity rights.

Considering only laws from the 2023 Florida legislative session that started on March 7 and ended on May 5, 2023, DeSantis and his Republican supermajority have ended permits for concealed gun carry, limited abortions to six weeks of gestation, ended the unanimous jury requirement for the death penalty, prohibited college and university diversity programs and - in a sweeping bill package aimed at trans Floridians - outlawed gender-affirming care and drag shows for minors, banned bathroom choice and expanded Florida's so-called "Don't Say Gay" sex ed law through the 8th grade. Furthermore, the legislature expanded the voucher program for private schools, prohibited Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance criteria to be used in the financial industry and passed a slew of pandemic-related laws that outlaw vaccine, masking and testing requirements, among others - all in the spirit of attacking "woke" rules, as DeSantis' press releases often put it.

Another law more in DeSantis' direct favor is the new ban on the release of Florida state leaders' travel records, signed on May 11. More anti-crime bills are minimum sentences for the sale of fentanyl, a uniform bail bonds schedule (both May 1), higher penalties on breaking immigration law (May 10) and stricter human trafficking penalties (May 16), the latter also framed as a bill against illegal immigrants.

A number of bills out of the 2023 legislative sessions could disgruntle consumers, workers and small-business owners. They are limits on torts against insurers (March 24), the restriction of the statute of limitations in construction (April 13) and restrictions on unions (May 9). However, the sessions also included a sweeping funding bill for housing (March 29) and an expansion to the state's trail network and wildlife corridor (April 11) as well as a bill aiming to reign in drug prices (May 3) and new rules prohibiting harassment on the basis of religious or ethnic displays, a bill DeSantis signed on a trip to Israel.

According to Statista calculations based on the Office of the Governor of Florida website, DeSantis still has more than 90 bills on his desk from the session.