The proposed legislation (SB 100) is a repeat bill that has been filed for consideration by state lawmakers for the last two years in a row, and has failed to pass. According to Republican Florida Sen. Randy Fine, the bill sponsor, the intent of the bill is to keep “political message” flags out of government buildings.
The proposal, however, has been criticized for targeting Pride flags, as well as flags promoting racial justice movements like Black Lives Matter. Under the proposal, local government entities — including public colleges, universities and K-12 schools — would be prohibited from displaying any flag that represents a “political viewpoint,” including, “but not limited to, a politically partisan, racial, sexual orientation and gender, or political ideology viewpoint.”
When prompted by Sen. Kristen Arrington, D-Kissimmee, Fine confirmed that this would include Pride flags flown by the city of Orlando, for instance, during any sort of event commemorating the Pulse nightclub massacre of 2016.
“The community can fly any flags they want,” Fine said. “But the government would not be in the business of political viewpoints.”
Fine has in recent years sponsored bills targeting access to gender-affirming care for transgender people in Florida and drag performances. In a press release announcing his refiling of the flag bill, Fine’s office declared that the bill would “ban the use of fictional country flags like ‘Palestine,’ pro-violence ‘Black Lives Matter’ flags, woke and pro-grooming ideological flags, and the flags of any political candidates in government buildings.”
Related
Florida Republican wants to ban ‘woke’ flags, including Palestine, LGBTQ+ and more
During discussion of the bill Tuesday, Democratic Sen. Tina Polsky questioned Fine specifically on the “pro-grooming” descriptor. “How is a flag grooming children?” she asked, incredulously.
“The purpose of this is, the government should not be taking political positions by flying political flags,” Fine responded. “It’s not a difficult concept to understand.”
Arrington also pressed Fine on another provision of the bill that “allows an active or retired member of the United States Armed Forces or National Guard to use reasonable force to prevent the desecration, destruction, or removal of the United States flag, or to replace it to a prominent position, except when directly ordered not to do so by a law enforcement officer who is acting in the scope of his or her employment,” according to a bill analysis.
“Reasonable force” is not defined in state statutes — nor in Fine’s proposal, leaving one’s interpretation of the term rather ambiguous. “We don’t have a definition of reasonable force. And when I Google ‘reasonable force,’ it’s a little bit scary with the opportunities or what things that can be done to individuals,” Arrington noted.
“Flags are not the reason that you can’t afford eggs.”
Members of the public, during the public comment portion of the Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing, expressed frustration over Florida lawmakers prioritizing a bill about flags over bread-and-butter issues.
“Right now we’re entertaining a bill that deals with a piece of fabric,” said Sarasota County resident Sebastian Martinez. “And that’s the No. 1 priority, when people in Sarasota County, Florida — they can’t afford health insurance. We’re devastated by the hurricanes, and are still repairing their businesses. But we’re worried about a flag, which doesn’t make sense.”
Jackson Oberlink, legislative director for the progressive Florida for All coalition, similarly questioned lawmakers’ priorities in his own testimony. “This bill isn’t about any real issues Floridians are facing. It’s a distraction,” he argued. “While Floridians face soaring housing costs, skyrocketing property insurance and stagnant wages, this Legislature wastes time on yet another manufactured culture war designed to divide us and turn us against each other.”
Jon Harris Maurer, public policy director for Equality Florida, also put it bluntly. “Flags are not the reason that you can’t afford eggs. Flags are not the reason that your insurance policy is being canceled, and flags are not the reasons that Floridians cannot afford housing. And yet this is the committee’s first priority.”
The eight-member committee nonetheless advanced SB 100 in a 5 to 2 vote along party lines Tuesday afternoon, with Republicans in support. One member of the committee, Sen. Erin Grall, was absent.
“We’re working on this because of all the parents who have contacted me,” said Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Lake Mary, a member of the committee who supported the bill. “They expect that when their children go to school, that they’re learning reading, writing and arithmetic and not propaganda.”
Fine, who is currently campaigning for U.S. Congress, also blamed members of the public who showed up for public comment for why state legislators can’t focus on issues like high property insurance costs. “We spend an hour listening to public comment. Frankly, I could make the similarly specious argument that that’s time that we could have gotten back to working on insurance and all of these other things,” he said. “So it works both ways.”
Florida’s 60-day regular legislative session doesn’t officially kick off until March 4, but committees are hearing select legislation ahead of time in preparation, including Fine’s flag bill — ostensibly a priority. Lawmakers historically file hundreds of bills for consideration during the legislative session, and only a fraction actually pass and head to the Governor’s desk for final approval.
Fine’s bill needs to clear two other legislative committees, plus get approval from a majority in the Florida House and Senate during the legislative session, in order to pass.
Related
Florida senator wants to ban enrollment of undocumented students at some Florida schools
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Bluesky | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
This article appears in Feb 12-18, 2025.