By RYAN DAILEY
News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Legislature this week passed a bill that is designed to keep minors under 16 from being on social-media platforms, this year’s top priority of the House speaker.
But with Gov. Ron DeSantis expressing doubts about the measure, lawmakers could be hedging against a potential veto.
The House on Thursday voted 108-7 to pass the measure (HB 1), a little more than two weeks before the 2024 legislative session’s scheduled March 7 conclusion. The Senate signed off on the bill earlier in the week, meaning the governor would have to take action on the bill within seven days.
DeSantis has made several statements in recent weeks questioning the legality of the bill, leading to speculation that it could get the governor’s veto pen. If it does, lawmakers could come back to the table before the end of session to reconsider the measure. Republican supermajorities in both chambers also could potentially override a gubernatorial veto — an option not exercised by state lawmakers in nearly 15 years.
Speaking about the bill before the House passed it Thursday, DeSantis suggested the bill could have potential implications for Floridans’ parental rights. The governor pointed to the bill affecting 14- and 15-year-olds.
“I don’t think it (the bill) is there yet. Hopefully we’ll be able to get there in a way that, I think, answers the concerns that a lot of folks have,” DeSantis said. “Because I do think parents are concerned about social media and what goes on there. And I do think they think it’s a problem. But I also think that for people that are in high school, it’s not as simple. I think you’ve got to have some parent involvement.”
The measure would place various requirements on social-media companies, including preventing children under 16 from creating accounts on at least some platforms. The bill also would require platforms to terminate existing accounts that they know or have “reason to believe” are held by minors younger than 16 and allow parents to request that minors’ accounts be terminated.
The restrictions would apply only to companies that meet certain criteria, including issues related to algorithms, “addictive features” and allowing users to view the content or activities of other users.
House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, made the measure a major priority for the 2024 session. Reporters on Thursday asked Renner whether he expected DeSantis to veto the measure.
“I don’t know, I don’t know what the governor is thinking,” the speaker said.
Renner also touted the bill, saying that “we worked with everyone, really all stakeholders, from the first moment.”
“We’ve taken a little bit more time to get to where we are. But we think we have a really good product, we’re really excited about it, both being effective and constitutional,” Renner told reporters.
Meanwhile, tech industry groups such as the Computer & Communications Industry Association, have signaled the bill likely would face a court challenge if signed by DeSantis.
The association said in a statement this week that the bill “puts young Floridians at risk by restricting their First Amendment right to access information and forcing companies to collect additional sensitive data on internet users.”
GETTING FIT
Bills that are part of a major health plan that is a priority of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, also got final approval in the Legislature this week.
The measures (SB 7016 and SB 7018) carry a hefty price tag and are designed to bolster the state’s health care workforce as more people are projected to move to the Sunshine State.
With little discussion, the House voted 117-1 to pass the two bills Thursday, after the Senate last month voted overwhelmingly to approve the bill.
Rep. Mike Beltran, R-Riverview, cast the House’s only dissenting votes on the bills, dubbed the “Live Healthy” plan.
The main bill, SB 7016, includes $717 million in spending. Among other things, it would provide money for increased residency slots for doctors and put additional dollars into loan-forgiveness programs for health-care professionals.
The bill also seeks to take workforce-related steps such as helping clear the way for foreign-trained physicians to practice in Florida, and includes issues such as trying to shift patients away from hospital emergency rooms for non-emergency conditions.
The other bill, SB 7018, includes providing $50 million a year for a revolving-loan fund program for health-innovation projects. The program would provide loans with a maximum interest rate of 1 percent, with priority given to applicants such as rural hospitals and organizations that provide care in medically underserved areas.
Passidomo has said the bills are needed, at least in part, to meet health needs as the state continues to grow. For example, one of the bills includes providing money to expand medical residency programs to try to keep more new doctors in Florida.
WHAT’S HAPPENIN’, CHAPLAIN
The House also on Thursday passed a bill that would allow school districts to authorize volunteer chaplains to provide “support, services and programs” to students in public schools, amid a debate about whether the bill would be constitutional.
Under parts of the proposal (HB 931), chaplains would have to meet background screening requirements, and school districts or charter schools would have to get parental consent before students could receive chaplains’ services.
Supporters of the measure say allowing chaplains would add another tool to help schools address children’s mental-health issues.
Several House Democrats and the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida have argued the bill is unconstitutional.
“Courts have repeatedly ruled that it is unconstitutional for public schools to invite religious leaders onto campus to engage in religious activities, such as prayer and religious counseling, with students,” Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel for the ACLU of Florida, said in a prepared statement.
The measure would need approval from the Senate before it could go to Gov. Ron DeSantis. Passidomo and Senate bill sponsor Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, said Thursday they think the bill would pass constitutional muster.
“I think that it actually is squarely within the Constitution. Not only would parents have to consent to the consultation with a specific chaplain. But there’s also, they can’t prevent any specific chaplain from being a part of the program either, based on religion. So, these are the bare minimum guidelines to participate,” Grall, an attorney, said.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Florida lawmakers Thursday gave final approval to a bill that seeks to keep children under age 16 off social-media platforms, as Gov. Ron DeSantis continued to raise concerns about the measure.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “These (social media) companies know what they are doing is wrong. They have not acted. We will.” — State Rep. Tyler Sirois, a Merritt Island Republican who sponsored the social-media proposal
