Florida Republicans try again to ban political, Pride flags on government buildings

News and views for thoughtful Floridians and other Americans

By Liz Caputo

Florida Phoenix

A special thanks to Florida Phoenix for sharing this story with Tropic Press.

Florida Republicans are trying for the fourth year in a row to ban political flags atop government buildings, including Pride, MAGA, or Black Lives Matter banners.

Filed by Republicans Rep. David Borrero and Sen. Clay Yarborough, HB 347 and SB 426 would ban flags referencing politics, race, gender, or sexual orientation being flown on government-owned buildings. This is the fourth time Borrero, from Miami, has carried this legislation. It’s died each year before reaching either the House or Senate floor.

Identical in each chamber, the language bans schools, universities, state governments, local governments, or political boards from displaying flags depicting “any word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing, symbol, or advertisement of any nature which represents political partisanship, political ideology, race, gender, or sexual orientation.”

It would preempt local ordinances allowing these flags. Out-of-compliance entities would be fined $500 per day. The penalties would be collected through the Department of State and deposited into the general revenue fund, the state’s main budgetary account.

Last year, the bill was filed by then-Sen. Randy Fine to specifically target Palestinian flags during the Israel-Hamas war. Fine withdrew his bill to run for Congress in March. This year’s measure, however, allows these buildings to fly flags from other states or countries or that have “historical significance.”

The 2024 bill was sponsored by Borrero and Sen. Jonathan Martin, and the 2023 bill by Borrero and then-Sen. Jay Collins. Collins resigned his post in August to serve as lieutenant governor.

If passed, the legislation would take effect on July 1, 2026. The session starts on Jan. 13.

---

Note to readers:

As the annual legislative session approaches, we will have continuing updates on proposed bills. Among the hot button issues will be efforts to reform (or eliminate) property taxes and further restrictions on reproductive rights. Stay tuned.

---

Thank you

Thank you for reading this, and for subscribing and supporting this initiative. Tropic Press is part of a growing number of independent news sites on Substack, and our goal is to create original commentary on the news with a special focus on Florida and issues of interest to Floridians.

And because this newsletter reaches more than 400,000 readers, we also share excellent journalism from other writers — such as this report today from Florida Phoenix — that otherwise might not otherwise make its way to everyone’s attention.

I deeply appreciate your support, and I encourage you to share these newsletters so we can continue to grow our community of like-minded readers.

Thank you.

J.C. Bruce

---

More online

Thank you for reading the Tropic Press newsletter. You also have access to the Tropic Press website for additional and previous posts, an archive of posts from our advice columnist, Miss Mingo, occasional guest commentaries, and information about The Strange Files series of mysterious adventures and other books.

J.C. Bruce, journalist and author, is the founder of Tropic Press. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and his native Florida. Forward this email to your friends. They will love you for it.

---

---

Thanks to our sponsor

Today’s report is brought to you by Tropic Press Books, home of The Strange Files. Interested in sponsoring these reports? Contact: Advertising@Tropic.Press

---

It’s good to share

Tropic Press is a reader-supported publication. Here’s a big shout-out to all our loyal subscribers. Feel free to forward this email to your friends so they can enjoy it too. The more people we reach, the greater community of like-minded people we build. This is your chance to be part of all that. Thank you.