Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Wednesday that forbids local governments across the state from promoting or funding diversity, equity and inclusion programs, his office said. The legislation also requires entities that receive public grants to certify those funds will not be used to advance DEI work and creates enforcement measures, including penalties for officials found to be in violation.
DeSantis framed the move as a response to what he characterized as discrimination against certain groups. "I would think with DEI the disfavored groups, number one obviously, would be white males and I think they’ve been discriminated against," he said on Wednesday.
State officials described the law as barring local governments from establishing or maintaining DEI offices or programs. The measure includes provisions meant to prevent the use of public dollars for DEI-related activities, and adds mechanisms to enforce the restrictions through penalties targeted at public officials who fail to comply, according to the governor's office.
Republican leaders at the state level and in the Trump administration have pushed back against DEI practices more broadly, characterizing such programs as contrary to merit-based approaches and discriminatory against groups such as white people and men. At the federal level, former President Donald Trump signed executive orders intended to dismantle DEI policies at federal agencies and within the private sector where government contractors and subcontractors are involved, and he has also sought to withhold federal funding from universities over DEI programs.
Civil rights advocates who defend DEI say these practices are intended to address historic inequities faced by groups including women, LGBTQ people and racial and ethnic minorities. Such practices cited by proponents include training aimed at combating discrimination, programs to address gender and racial pay disparities, and expanded recruitment and access efforts for underrepresented groups.
In conjunction with the DEI bill, DeSantis also signed legislation restricting climate-related initiatives, his office said. That law is designed to block new taxes, fees or penalties tied to carbon emissions.
Critics of recent Republican measures at the state level have argued that actions targeting DEI, climate policies, transgender rights and pro-Palestinian demonstrations risk infringing on free speech and due process. Supporters frame the measures as efforts to push back against what they describe as "woke," "far-left" or "anti-American" ideologies.
Earlier this month, DeSantis approved separate legislation granting him and other state officials authority to designate organizations as "terrorist organizations," a move that followed a string of other high-profile policy changes enacted by the governor this year.
Context and implications
The new restrictions on DEI limit how local governments can staff and fund programs intended to address discrimination and workplace or recruitment inequities. The requirement that grant recipients certify they will not use public funds for DEI initiatives introduces a compliance condition for entities that rely on state or local grants.
The inclusion of enforcement mechanisms and penalties indicates state officials intended the prohibition to be actionable rather than advisory.