Day: May 6, 2021

DeSantis Announces Special Election to Replace Congressman Alcee Hastings

Casey Owens

On Tuesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that he would sign an executive order to set the date for the special election to replace recently deceased Congressman Alcee Hastings who represented Florida’s 20th Congressional District.  The date scheduled for the special primary election is November 2nd, 2021; and January 11th, 2022 for the special general election.

Since the death of Hastings, Democrats have been pressing DeSantis to set the dates for the special election. One candidate, Rev. Elvin Dowling, filed a federal lawsuit to force DeSantis into setting the date. In past circumstances when a special election was necessary, the average amount of time between a seat becoming vacant and being filled is approximately 4 months, whereas the seat left vacant by Hastings will remain unfilled for approximately 9 months.

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Governor DeSantis Signs Florida Elections Reform Bill

Grant Holcomb
Ron DeSantis

On Thursday, Governor Ron DeSantis signed an elections reform bill into law, causing much debate over the new law’s contents.

The bill, SB 90, designed to ensure election integrity, has been the subject of debate for weeks since the Florida Legislature was passing the bill through committees. The bill will install new requirements for ballot drop boxes as well as mail-in voting, specifically voters who wish to vote absentee will have to ask for a ballot each general election cycle. Also, the drop boxes will need to be staffed by an employee from the supervisor of elections’ office whenever the box is receiving ballots, and times to access the drop boxes will be limited.

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Commentary: The Origins of the Cruel Ritual of Diversity Training

Florida Capital Star Staff

In the typical scenario, students, staff, and faculty submit themselves to the mercies of hectoring lectures and demeaning demonstrations that purport to reveal white privilege and the oppressive conditions faced by “underrepresented populations” in their institutions. Former Smith College staffer Jodi Shaw’s account of how, as part of such training, she was humiliatingly reduced to her racial identity and reprimanded for her role in the oppression of non-white co-workers is but the most recent high-profile example being discussed and debated.

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Memos Hint Zuckerberg to Continue Big Spending on Georgia Election Workers, Infrastructure

Florida Capital Star Staff

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s multimillion dollar investment in the 2020 presidential election process may extend into this year or beyond, at least if Fulton County is any measure.

Georgia’s largest county, which encompasses the blue-leaning city of Atlanta, received more than $6.3 million in private grants from the Zuckerberg-funded Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) to conduct elections during the 2020 pandemic, but recently reported it did not use all the money last year.

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Some Immigrant Spouses Won’t Need to Submit Fingerprints to Renew Their Visas

Florida Capital Star Staff
CBP detainee

Some spouses of immigrants working in the U.S. won’t be required to submit new fingerprints to renew their visas, the Department of Homeland Security said in a court filing Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Trump administration required new fingerprints to safeguard against misrepresentation in 2019, though the requirement caused tens of thousands of immigrants to lose their visas due to processing delays, the WSJ reported. The requirement will be suspended for two years starting May 17, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) decided.

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‘Enemy of Free Speech:’ Republicans Hit Back at Facebook After It Upholds Trump Ban

Peter D'Abrosca

Republicans are hitting back at Facebook and the Big Tech giants in Silicon Valley after Facebook’s Oversight Board announced Wednesday that it will uphold its ban of Former President Donald J. Trump.

Facebook claimed in a statement that Trump post “violated Facebook’s rules prohibiting praise or support of people engaged in violence,” when he called Capitol protestors “great patriots” and and “very special” on Jan. 6. 

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Big Corporations Come Out Against Texas Election Integrity Bills

Florida Capital Star Staff

As the state of Texas considered several comprehensive bills aimed at cracking down on voter fraud, multiple large corporations have released statements condemning the measures with baseless allegations of voter suppression, according to The Hill.

On Tuesday, 52 different companies signed onto a letter demanding that the state legislature reject any such bills, without providing any evidence or naming any specific pieces of legislation. Among the signatories were the tech company Microsoft and American Airlines.

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Hamilton College Student Leaders Work to ‘Defund the Police,’ Claim ‘White Supremacists’ Are on Campus

Florida Capital Star Staff
Hamilton College

Following the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, students and faculty at Hamilton College received an email denoting some of them as white supremacists and calling for the admissions office to better block such students from enrolling in the future.

It was part of a larger push to grow a “defund the police” effort at the private, New York college.

The email came from leadership at the school’s Student Assembly and was signed by President Saphire Ruiz as well as Fall Vice President Eric Stenzel and Spring Vice President Christian Hernandez Barragan.

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States, Political Parties Draw Battle Lines over Taxpayer Funding of Critical Race Theory

The Center Square

A grassroots group of conservatives and Republican state leaders is pushing back after the Biden administration tied federal education funding to adopting controversial critical race theory teachings in schools’ curriculum.

The Biden administration in April proposed a new Department of Education rule that gives preference in grant awarding to schools that incorporate into their curriculum content from the “1619 Project,” a controversial history project that is the most prominent work containing critical race theory ideas.

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Steve Scalise Wants Liz Cheney Out of Leadership

Florida Capital Star Staff

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise is openly backing the ousting of Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney from her Republican leadership position and supporting New York Rep. Elise Stefanik to replace her.

“House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker Pelosi and President Biden’s radical socialist agenda, and Elise Stefanik is strongly committed to doing that, which is why Whip Scalise has pledged to support her for Conference Chair,” his spokesman, Lauren Fine, said in a statement first reported by Punchbowl News.

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REPORT: Biden, DOJ Plan to Challenge Laws Banning Biological Boys from Girls’ Sports

Florida Capital Star Staff
boy and girl soccer

President Joe Biden’s administration and the Department of Justice are reportedly preparing to challenge bills banning biological males from women’s sports, multiple sources told the Daily Beast.

“We are having conversations with the Biden administration about additional actions that they should be taking as it relates to anti-LGBTQ bills that we’re seeing in these states,” Human Rights Campaign (HRC) president Alphonso David told the Daily Beast. “But we want to make sure we don’t lose sight of how important those words are, and how important his early actions have been to support and protect LGBTQ people throughout the country.”

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Florida Legislature Passed Insurance Reform, Industry Future Uncertain

Grant Holcomb

After weeks of debate, Florida lawmakers passed insurance reform bills at the tail end of session. In the end, lawmakers passed legislation potentially leading to rate increases for customers of the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

Legislators also took steps to reduce the amount of roof-damage claims and lawsuits due to concerns of hurricane damage claims being filed long after the storm.

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Police Protection Under Marsy’s Law Heads to Florida Supreme Court

Peter D'Abrosca
Florida Supreme Court Building

A lawsuit filed by two police officers after separate use-of-force incidents claiming that they are entitled to protection under Florida’s recently-adopted Marsy’s Law Constitutional amendment will head to the state Supreme Court for a decision. 

“A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal last month sided with two Tallahassee police officers, who argued that, as victims, they were entitled to privacy protections included in Marsy’s Law,” WFSU reported. 

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