A.G. Gancarski
President Donald Trump’s second term has just begun, but a Florida Senator is confident his plan for the future presidential library is poised to success.
Sen. Jason Brodeur, who is carrying the bill (SB 118) that gives Florida’s state government control over any presidential library in the state, is telling OANN host Matt Gaetz that bipartisan support and a favorable path in committees present positives for the bill’s future.
Brodeur, a Republican from Central Florida, observed that there wasn’t even a “cursory backlash” from Democrats.
“Everybody seemed to get that Florida’s never had a presidential library, and that’s pretty neat, no matter what party you’re in,” Brodeur said.
He also noted that in both the Senate and House, the legislation only has two committee references. The Senate bill cleared Community Affairs last week, meaning it could be on the floor early in next month’s Legislative Session.
The bill reserves to the state “all regulatory authority over the establishment, maintenance, activities, and operations of presidential libraries.” It blocks “counties, municipalities, or other political subdivisions from enacting or enforcing any ordinance, resolution, rule, or other measure regarding presidential libraries unless authorized by federal law.”
Central to the legislative premise is the idea that such libraries are “unique national institutions designated to house, preserve, and make accessible the records of former presidents.”
The bill uses the definition of a presidential library adopted federally in 1986 by an act of Congress when Ronald Reagan was the chief executive, encompassing “research facilities and museum facilities,” and enshrining them as part of the National Archives system.
The federal legislation actually applied to Presidents after Reagan, such as George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as it took effect for Presidents inaugurated for their first terms after 1985, which was when Reagan’s second and final term as President began.
The Rules Committee will be the next stop for this proposal. From there, the full Senate would get to vote on it.
Rep. Alex Andrade’s House companion bill (HB 69) has two committee stops ahead. It has yet to be heard.
2 comments
LawLib
February 22, 2025 at 4:01 pm
Somehow the image of Trump used in the same breath as presidential library besmerches the lofty place libraries have in the history of mankind. That same lofty place will never be riveled by a president named Trump, especially in the State of FloriDUH!
Victoria Olson
February 22, 2025 at 5:35 pm
Typical Republican legislation, why are you wasting our legislation on this Frivolous bill when the are more important legislation that should be considered besides naming a Library after a man who is uneducated & doesn’t read for ego & his name plastered on it.