State lawmakers ended Florida’s 2021 annual legislative session, Friday, after passing a record $101.5 billion budget. Much of Governor Ron DeSantis’ priority measures did pass during this year’s session, including the so-called “anti-rioting bill,” which is already facing a federal lawsuit.
Other victories for DeSantis include passage of a bill imposing new restrictions on voting by mail-in ballot.
Results of Governor DeSantis’ campaign to crack down on Big Tech were a mixed bag: A proposal imposing sweeping new restrictions on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter did pass, but lawmakers ended the session without passing a consumer data privacy bill that aimed to allow Floridians to regain ownership of their personal information collected by companies.
Other high-profile measures approved by lawmakers include a bipartisan police reform bill requiring use-of-force standards and training, and a bill barring transgender women and girls from playing on secondary school and college-level female sports teams.
We’ll get a closer analysis of what passed, what didn’t and what it all means for Floridians going forward are Florida Gulf Coast University Political Science professors Peter Bergerson, Ph.D., and Roger Green, Ph.D.
