New leaders of Legislature march in lockstep with DeSantis

TALLAHASSEE — New Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner, both staunch conservatives loyal to Gov. Ron DeSantis, will take over the reins of the Florida Legislature on Tuesday as the political world speculates whether DeSantis will run for president in 2024.

With a Republican super-majority in both chambers won in the general election, Floridians should expect an aggressive conservative agenda that could advance the culture wars DeSantis has waged with further expansion of “anti-woke” legislation and more restrictive abortion laws.

In an email to the Orlando Sentinel, Renner said he expects the Legislature will work together to address hurricane recovery, “inflationary pressure on [the] cost of living, providing a world class education for our students, and pushing back against ideologues who are politicizing every aspect of our society.”

DeSantis heralded his 19-point victory over Democrat Charlie Crist on Nov. 8 as a sign that Floridians want more of the same governance of the past four years.

Some political experts have said he needs to move to the center if he wants to win a national election. But DeSantis has declared he has unfinished business on culture war issues, including passing a law allowing people to carry guns openly in public without a permit and curbing banking and investment policies that embrace what he considers to be “woke” social issues over returns on investment.

Passidomo and Renner will be installed at Tuesday’s constitutionally required organizational session, the same day new members will be sworn in.

The big majorities give Republicans unchecked authority with the ability to stop Democrats from using administrative and procedural rules to slow down the legislative process. They also have the votes needed to override any veto by DeSantis, which is not likely to happen.

Mac Stipanovich, a former Republican political strategist turned independent after Donald Trump was elected president, said he didn’t think a single Republican legislator would “have the nerve” to go up against DeSantis.

“We may as well not even have a legislature for the next four years,” he said.

Passidomo, R-Naples, and Renner, R-Palm Coast, have already announced some of their leadership teams, lawmakers that have a voting track record that is pro-business, pro-gun rights, anti-abortion and anti-gay rights.

Passidomo will preside over a 28-12 majority in the Senate. She called the lopsided gubernatorial and legislative victories “a definitive win for parental rights, fiscal responsibility, access to world-class education opportunities for our students including school choice, protecting our children and the unborn, and ensuring government is never able to strip anyone of the dignity of work or their right to worship.”

She has already said she’d like to see the ban on abortions be reduced from 15 weeks to 12 weeks, as long as there are exceptions for rape and incest. The current law only allows an exception if the mother’s health or life is in danger, or if the fetus has a deadly deformity.

She also is committed to expanding on the Parental Bill of Rights, which gay advocates have labeled the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Passidomo also wants to make housing more “attainable” for average Floridians and is looking to making more insurance reforms during a special session yet to be scheduled.

Her nominee for President Pro Tempore is Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Lady Lake, once executive director of the Christian Coalition of Florida and author of last session’s Parental Bill of Rights. The Advocate has named him one of the most anti-LGBTQ+ politician in the Florida Legislature because of his statements and policies.

The law bans discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through 3rd grade in public schools, or in a manner “that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

Baxley admitted the bill was designed to curb what he saw as an epidemic of children coming out as gay.

“There’s something wrong with how we’re emphasizing this, and all of a sudden overnight they’re a celebrity,” he said during debate on the bill. “I know parents are very concerned about the departure of the core belief systems and values.”

Baxley, a funeral director, was openly critical of the marriage equality act, called lesbians “dysfunctional” and opposed legislation allowing same-sex couples to adopt children. He sponsored legislation that would have made gender-affirming care for minors a felony.

Baxley was elected to the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2016, the same as Passidomo.

Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Ponte Vedra, will chair the new Committee on Fiscal Policy. He spent several terms renegotiating a gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe. He sponsored a resolution last session, backed by Baxley, that opposed nonexistent gun control measures that Republicans feared would come from the Biden administration.

It said the Legislature would take “all lawful means necessary to resist and overturn any federal gun-control measures that violate the right of Floridians to keep and bear arms.”

The measure died in committee.

Sen. Doug Broxson also has a well-documented conservative voting record, including co-authoring legislation to require minors seeking abortions to get parental permission. He ran for re-election to take a stand against “woke liberals,” as one campaign ad said.

He also introduced legislation that would require property insurers to provide only three years of claims histories instead of five when requested by a policyholder. Passidomo named him appropriations chair.

Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-Melbourne, will chair the rules committee, a position that Passidomo formerly held. Other leadership team members are Sens. Keith Perry of Gainesville and Ben Albritton of Wauchula.

All voted for the Parental Bill of Rights, 15-week abortion ban, and the “Stop WOKE Act,” which limits what businesses and schools can teach about race and sexual orientation. Significant parts of the law were blocked by a federal judge on Thursday, who called it “positively dystopian.”

Renner, who will preside over a 120-member House with 85 Republicans, is a big proponent of expanding school choice, and waging war against banking and investment policies that embrace environmental, societal and governing principles over profit margins.

At the GOP’s Sunshine Summit in July, Renner said the woke agenda is the biggest threat to America.

“And that is really an effort by billionaires, woke billionaires to leverage American capitalism against us and turn our American companies into advocates for the woke agenda,” he said. “This includes cutting off our energy sector and inducing what I believe is going to be a politically induced energy crisis in America, going against our agriculture sector, going against a lot of things that make America work.”

He has only named two people to his leadership team so far: Rep. Chuck Clemons of Newberry as Speaker Pro Tempore, and Rep. Michael Grant of Port Charlotte as majority leader.

Grant, who previously served as majority leader under outgoing speaker Chris Sprowls, has previously said he would support passage of a fetal heartbeat bill, which would ban abortions after six weeks.

Grant will be responsible for “responsible for guiding the Republican Conference and shepherding the Republican agenda,” Renner said in a news release, praising Grant’s ability to push bills through the approval process.

“I look forward to championing his vision to seize this historic moment for Florida and leave our state better off than we found it,” Grant said of Renner.