4/24 - Jake Stofan, Action News Jax

On the Friday edition of Jacksonville's morning news, state and local government reporter Jake Stofan with Action News. Jackson is with us every Friday morning. And this is where state and local government collide. As you reported out, local governments have now until January 1st to scrub any programs, policies, grants, hiring practices that give preferential treatment based on race or sex, part of the so-called DEI ban law that was assigned here earlier this week by Ron DeSantis. How's the city of Jacksonville handling that, Jake? We heard from the mayor's office yesterday that they're conducting a, essentially a full review of all city ordinances and hiring policies to ensure that they're in compliance with this law. It has some really stiff penalties in it. Local officials could be removed from office. Private citizens could file. civil suits against the city if they feel like the city's in violation. So there's definitely a large incentive to try to get in line with these requirements. One thing we heard really, I guess, the first immediate impact of this bill being signed. We had a Hispanic outreach coordinator. That position has been vacant since April when the person who was working in that role stepped down after some controversy. And the mayor's office says that role will not be filled as a direct result of this anti-DEI bill. I was able to find some other references in city ordinance. related to a loan program that gave preference to minority owned businesses. There's a JFRD training program that in city code says that it's intended to increase the number of minority and women firefighters. All these little things that may sound fairly innocuous. an intended purpose at one point to correct an issue that was present now are likely going to have to be tweaked, rewritten, or repealed. Fair amount of work lying ahead over the next several months. Next week is the special session that gets underway on redistricting and more. Set the table. What's the tone overall and what do you anticipate happening as lawmakers gather again by Monday next week?

comes to redistricting, you know, there's a lot of open-ended questions still. The U.S. Supreme Court has still not weighed in on this Louisiana case that will determine whether race is a factor that can be considered when drawing congressional maps. We also know that the Virginia maps that were passed that gave Democrats an advantage in that state are currently on hold by the courts. Eventually, does Florida, you know, whether they're allowed to say it or not, want to be more aggressive to counter what's happened in other states, or perhaps maybe they don't need to be so aggressive and possibly risk creating additional, you know, purple districts. The other two items on the menu, if you will, are expanded. conscientious objection to getting your child vaccinated before going to public schools. There's also the AI Bill of Rights. We haven't seen, you know, written bills for those, at least not what they'll be considering this special session. So they were obviously presented during the regular session, but it's unclear whether there's going to be some changes that perhaps sway House leadership, which passed. during the regular session to see if they could work out some sort of deal. Going to be a busy one next week. I know you'll be all over and we'll check in again as we go through the week. Action News, Jack, state and local government reporter Jake Stofan. Thanks.