Peter Schorsch
State Sen. Greg Evers is making a lot of noise over the Obama administration’s directive to public schools instructing them to allow transgender students to use the bathroom matching their gender identity.
But where was the Baker Republican – who is now a candidate for Florida’s 1st Congressional District – when he had a chance to solve the problem in Florida?
This week, Evers – former chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee – drafted a letter to both Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi, imploring legal support to school superintendents who refuse to comply with new federal guidelines.
As noted in a press release, and reported by NWFdailynews.com, Evers’ letter urges Scott and Bondi to “make sure that ‘not one dime of federal funding’ is pulled from schools who are protecting ‘common sense school policies.’”
However, when the senator had an opportunity to take action on the transgender issue, his committee never allowed it to come up for a vote.
His inaction makes Evers one of the prime reasons Florida now has to deal with the Obama directive.
During the 2015 Legislative Session, state Rep. Frank Artiles filed a bathroom bill, cosponsored by Rep. Matt Gaetz, which can be found here.
While Evers placed it on the agenda of the Criminal Justice Committee, the Senate version of the bill (which can be found here) was never heard, and it died in his committee.
So now, instead of facing the problem legislatively, Evers – who, in announcing his congressional bid, said “things that need to be stopped in Washington” – is turning to a campaign stunt to get things done.
“I’m going to fight this every way I can,” Evers said about the new federal mandate. Except in the one way that would have mattered, apparently.
