From NPR Up First podcast, comes this

Today, Florida’s legislature begins a new session and people are watching in part because of whose agenda they’re following.

Governor Ron DeSantis has a Republican super majority. Its members have largely followed his priorities in the past, and they plan to do it again. So how could they influence Florida and the country?

What makes this session all about DeSantis?

Well, as many people are aware, he is a rumored presidential contender and he’s consolidated power here. To the degree that even if some Republicans may disagree with him privately, they’re not gonna say that publicly. Hmm. So right now, this is about clearing the path, and we’re seeing a lot of bills that align with what the governor has said is his priority, which is combating what he sees as a quote, woke ideology in public education and in government.

How do lawmakers plan to do that?

Well, they have a bill that would further limit what teachers can say in schools. It would expand the state’s prohibition on discussing gender and teaching sexual identity from the third grade to the eighth grade. But it also goes further in that it forbids schools from using names and pronouns other than the ones assigned to a child at birth. We’re also watching a bill related to public colleges and universities that would ban any major or minor in gender studies, intersectionality and critical race theory. The bill also bans d e I programs, except those that may be required by the federal government or ones that are meant for specific groups like military vets. Hmm. And because this is complicated, we should define some of these terms.

Gender studies is what it sounds like. Intersectionality is the idea that some people face discrimination in different ways, like black women and d e I is diversity, equity, and inclusion, and that’s the name a lot of companies give to their efforts to include different kinds of people. So this bill would basically block all

Of that, and of course, strike out at a lot of buzzwords that conservatives will use and criticize. Isn’t the legislature also promoting private schools?

Yes. Now Florida already lets, some people use public money to pay for private school, and now the state is about to remove the income caps from those programs. And this would let every child in the state qualify for a private school scholarship or an education savings account that the family can use on related expenses. This is a long held goal of choice advocates. Traditional school supporters, though, are worried it’s gonna lead to a drain in public school enrollment and funding.

What else does the governor want from the legislature?

Well, governor DeSantis says he’s okay with open carry, which would allow people to openly walk around with firearms. And this is what Second Amendment advocates want, but it makes a lot of tourism and business people worried because tourism is our biggest economic sector. Sure. And they’re worried the state could scare off potential visitors. Now, right now, only concealed permitless carry is under consideration. We’re also watching a lot of bills that deal with journalism, the media and free speech. One of those would presume that anything attributed to an anonymous source is false, and it lowers the threshold for who is considered a public figure. It would also make it easy for traditional public figures like politicians to sue journalists for defamation.

The other bill would let anyone, or actually it would require anyone who writes about a state official and gets paid to do so, to have to file with the state.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. You’d have to register with the government before you could exercise your First Amendment, right?

Yes. Now that bill exempts journalists and traditional media outlets, and it’s basically meant for certain types of bloggers. As for whether it could pass, the sponsor is very insistent, but this one appears to have a lot less support than that first bill that targets traditional media.