‘Good riddance’: Confederate monuments bill appears to topple

Legislation that could have required governments to preserve Confederate monuments once again appears in limbo.

The Senate Government Oversight and Accountability Committee declined to take up the bill (SB 1816) following a contentious hearing. While the Senate President’s Office said the legislation can still be taken up at a future meeting, no time was granted to extend the committee even though all public testimony was taken.

Critics of the legislation burst into cheers as the committee gaveled to a close without hearing the bill, and Senators in opposition to the legislation cheered its apparent death.

“Good Riddance!” said Sen. Tina Polsky, a Boca Raton Democrat who sits on the committee. “After two years of this hateful bill failing, let’s finally be done with wasting our time in committees over this nonsense that no one needs or wants. I imagine we never see it again. Back to real issues.”

A similar bill last year was passed in a committee, but with multiple Republican Senators voicing discomfort about the legislation in its form. Within a day, then-Senate President Kathleen Passidomo made clear the bill would not move forward.

But the bill resurfaced this year, now sponsored by freshman Sen. Stan McClain, an Ocala Republican.

The Government Oversight committee was the first to hear the “Protection of Historic Monuments and Memorials” bill this year, and it’s unusual to go through a presentation and public testimony without taking action on legislation. If the bill cannot make it through a first committee stop next week, that likely precludes it being considered this Legislative Session.

Sen. Randy Fine chaired most of the Tuesday meeting, though he left for much of the monuments bill discussion to present campus carry legislation that was shot down in another committee. Due to his resignation to run for Congress, he will vacate his Senate seat after Monday, and said it will likely fall to a new committee Chair to decide whether to take up the bill again.

That decision will likely belong to Sen. Nick DiCeglie, a Pinellas Republican and the committee Vice Chair. DiCeglie led the meeting through most of the Confederate bill discussion. Florida Politics has asked if he has any plans to revive the bill and will update this story when we receive a response.

McClain, for his part, presented the bill as an attempt to preserve all Florida military history that has been on display for more than 25 years.

The bill would create the Historic Florida Monuments and Memorials Protection Act to prevent the removal, damage or destruction of a monument or memorial located on public property falling into that age range. It would allow individuals with a special interest in monuments to bring civil actions against cities that try to remove such monuments.

A House companion bill (HB 1599) filed by Rep. Dean Black, a Jacksonville Republican, has not been slated for consideration in a committee in the lower chamber.