It never ceases to amaze that, even when they were the registered majority in Florida, Democrats have not been able to win control of the Legislature or even influence legislation, especially in recent years. The Republican majority has, therefore, been running what is practically a one-party state, especially during the tenure of Gov. Ron DeSantis. Some recently passed laws even deal with issues that do not exist. One of them is election reform, even though DeSantis had boasted of a trouble-free 2020 presidential voting and the Florida Department of State received only 262 election-fraud complaint forms in 2020 and referred only 75 to law enforcement or prosecutors – out of about 11 million ballots cast

But that was before Donald Trump began promoting the lie that he lost reelection because of “massive” fraud. Several Republican-controlled states took that as a cue to pass laws making it more difficult to vote, including Florida. The new law, among other things, creates a 15-member Office of Election Crimes and Security that will report directly to DeSantis, beefed up by 10 state police officers chosen by him.

Then there is the “Stop Wrongs Against Our Kids and Employees Act.” It deems as discrimination any classroom lesson which “compels” students to believe that they bear “responsibility for or should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment” or cause students to feel “guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress … because of actions committed in the past by people of the same race or sex.” This is an attack on Critical Race Theory (CRT), which is not taught in schools. The law also bans instructions in workplace training that would force an employee to believe one’s “moral character or status as either privileged or oppressed is necessarily determined by his or her race, color, sex, or national origin.”

Another law prohibits schools from teaching students in kindergarten through third grade about sexual orientation and gender identity and empowers parents to sue school districts that they believe are doing so. Opponents ridicule this measure as the “don’t say gay” bill, to which DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw responded on Twitter that a more accurate name would be the “Anti-Grooming Bill,” adding, “If you’re against the anti-Grooming bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you don’t denounce the grooming of 4to 8-year-old children.” Go figure and good luck trying.

Another bill injects Florida into the immigration debate. It prohibits state and local government entities from doing business with companies that transport “unauthorized aliens” into the state unless it is for the “detention, removal, or departure of the person from this state or the United States.” Airlines, bus companies and independent contractors can still transport undocumented immigrants to the state on behalf of the federal government but they will risk losing state or local contracts. Also, the Florida Department of Transportation can now hire private companies to move “unlawful” migrants out of the state.

And, yes, abortion has also been addressed, with a ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy, instead of the current 24 weeks, with no exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

Besides these and other bills that made their way through the Legislature during the recent session, similar measures were passed last year that impose restrictions against street protests and bar transgender athletes from taking part in some sports.

As they have bitterly pointed out, Democratic legislators have been ignored in the passage of the laws. African American lawmakers are particularly incensed that they were not consulted on the CRT bill which, in effect, prohibits teaching about slavery and its enduring consequences. But, as The New York Times has pointed out, “Republicans have controlled the Florida governorship and both legislative chambers since 1999. But the state remained nail-bitingly competitive in presidential and some state elections, a reflection of how its politics have mirrored the country’s: often evenly split, with its leaders wary of alienating voters if they moved too far to the extremes.

“However, as national politics have become more polarized, so have Florida’s. The state’s more reliably conservative bent, the favorable environment for Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections and Mr. DeSantis’s evident presidential ambitions have emboldened Florida’s leaders to pursue legislation that would have previously seemed too divisive.”

DeSantis, who narrowly won the governorship in 2018 is up for re-election this year, is now riding a wave of popularity, with polls showing him comfortably ahead of any Democratic challenger. But, like Trump, his mentor, DeSantis has a lot going against him, in addition to presiding over a political season in which the Legislature opted for cultural wars instead of taking care of the socio-economic needs of Floridians. Like the former president, he has ridiculed the seriousness of the coronavirus and precautions recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in favor of quack science. The virus has now killed more than 70,000 Floridians and sickened more than 5.8 million but the governor talks about the “COVID theater” and a “political science show.”

Mary Ellen Klas of The Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau reported that “the primary focus of the session was driven by many of DeSantis’ priorities…. Opponents say the effort was also intended to stoke the heated emotions of ethnic and class warfare, as culturally conservative, mostly white voters fear the changes coming from an increasingly diverse and multi-ethnic society.”

Another report by Klas and colleagues Lawrence Mower and Ana Ceballos said the legislative session ended with lawmakers “taking no meaningful action on rising property and automobile insurance rates, affordable housing, relief from sky-high rents, post-Surfside condominium reform or a forthcoming Medicaid cliff that could see hundreds of thousands of Floridians lose their health insurance.”

But why should they bother with such mundane matters when the creation of solutions to non-existent problems provides yet another means of fooling the gullible?