Florida Bill Would Shield DeSantis's Travel Records

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Libertas
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Florida Bill Would Shield DeSantis's Travel Records

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Florida Bill Would Shield DeSantis's Travel Records
Members of the Florida Legislature moved this week to shield Gov. Ron DeSantis’s travel records from the public, proposing to change the state’s public information laws just as the governor ramps up what is expected to be a 2024 presidential campaign.

The bill, which was advanced by state senators in both parties, includes a sweeping retroactive clause that would block the release of many records of trips already taken by Mr. DeSantis and other officials, as well as their families and staff members. The sealed information would include who accompanied officials like Mr. DeSantis on trips within Florida and around the country. In recent months, he has traveled widely as he promotes a new book and moves toward a White House bid.

Florida has long had expansive public information laws, known as sunshine laws, codified in the State Constitution. They allow the public to gain access to a variety of government records, including criminal files, tax documents and travel logs. These laws have exposed abuses of state resources by Florida officials: In 2003, for example, Jim King, the president of the State Senate, was found to have used a state plane to fly home on the weekends.

On Wednesday, Republicans and Democrats unanimously passed the new bill out of the State Senate’s committee on governmental oversight and accountability. A similar bill moving through the House is currently before the subcommittee on ethics, elections and open government. Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature.



https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/us/p ... icans.html
It is how fascism works. All cons here will be silent.
I sigh in your general direction.
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