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.
It was unclear why Democrats joined Republicans in voting the bill out of committee, and whether they would support it in the vote on the floor.
One Democratic state senator who voted in favor, Tina Polsky, said that she had initially thought the bill was solely about security and that she had now changed her mind and would not support the bill. She said she thought others might change their minds, too. The Florida Democratic Party roundly denounced the bill, saying Republicans were trying to hide Mr. DeSantis’s connections with wealthy donors.
Jonathan Martin, a Republican state senator from Fort Myers and the sponsor of his chamber’s bill, said in an interview with The Tampa Bay Times that the main impetus for the legislation was the heightened interest in Mr. DeSantis.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and His Administration
The Republican governor of Florida has turned the swing state into a right-wing laboratory by leaning into cultural battles.
“There has been an increase in public records requests regarding our governor and his travel simply because of his notoriety and his position for the past few years,” Mr. Martin told the Florida newspaper. He added after the vote that security concerns had also played a role, saying: “I don’t think we’re trying to hide what the governor is doing or who he’s meeting with. I think what we’re trying to do is protect the people that are protecting him.”
Mr. Martin’s office did not respond to requests for comment, nor did the governor’s office. A spokesman for Mr. DeSantis’s political operation referred inquiries to the governor’s office.
The Legislature has often moved in lock step with Mr. DeSantis, rarely challenging him or publicly disagreeing with him for fear of retribution in the form of vetoes of special projects or threats of a primary challenge.
One Republican senator, however, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity, said that the effort to shield records could prove to be a risky move for the governor, and that “if the optics of it are such that some can’t vote for it,” it would be a sign of weakness for Mr. DeSantis.
Ms. Polsky, the Democratic state senator, said that fellow Democrats on the subcommittee had been “a little surprised by the bill, and we were led to believe it just had to do with security and not the transportation part of it, and so honestly I think we all didn’t get the chance to ask the questions we want to ask.” She added that she would not support the bill if it came to a full floor vote, saying: “Honestly, I think it was a mistake.”
Nikki Fried, the chair of the state Democratic Party, said, “The Republicans doing his bidding in the Legislature are trying to shield him from transparency as he travels the country promoting his failed ‘Florida blueprint’ and cozies up with wealthy and special-interest donors.”
Dana Kelly, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is led by a DeSantis appointee, said the state agency supported the legislation because “the threat picture has changed significantly over the last decade, with violence and attempted violence against elected and appointed officials nationally.” She added that releasing travel details “represents a risk not only to those we protect, but also F.D.L.E. agents and citizens attending events.”
Government accountability experts expressed deep skepticism about the effort.
“I see no reason for this bill,” said Barbara Petersen, the executive director of the Florida Center for Government Accountability. “We’ve always had access to the governor’s travel records, always, and why Governor DeSantis needs special protection is totally unclear to me.”
She added: “I can understand that there is a security issue for current travel or future travel. But how is there a security issue for travel that’s already occurred?”
While Florida politicians have long tried to erode the state’s public records laws, the DeSantis administration has been particularly notable for how it has stalled requests for documents and sought more exemptions. Last month, WKMG-TV, an Orlando television station, reported that several state agencies had sent requested public records to the governor’s office for review. The office would then delay their release, sometimes for as long as nine months, according to the report.
Public records experts also worry about further reductions in governmental transparency. A state judge recently ruled that Mr. DeSantis could assert executive privilege to avoid revealing whom he had consulted with on judicial appointments.
Mr. DeSantis has faced mounting questions about his use of state resources as well as his reliance on donors’ planes.
An investigation in November by The Orlando Sentinel found that a coterie of wealthy donors had helped pay for Mr. DeSantis’s travel during his re-election campaign, as well as for his trips to support other Republican candidates during the midterm elections.
Mr. DeSantis’s office has also been forced by court order to turn over public records. After his administration began rounding up Venezuelan asylum seekers in San Antonio and putting them on private planes to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, Ms. Petersen’s group filed records requests seeking further details about the program.
The group eventually filed a lawsuit after being unable to obtain the records, and in October, a state judge ruled that Mr. DeSantis’s office must turn over the documents. Yet late last year, Ms. Petersen’s organization said that Mr. DeSantis and his administration had not produced all of the records, and filed a lawsuit seeking contempt of court. The group still does not have all of the records it requested, she said.
Ms. Polsky, the Democratic state senator, said, “The ironic part of it is, this bill will pass if they want it to pass, but even if it didn’t exist, they still don’t cough up the public records the way they should.” She added, “So it’s probably not going to make a difference in the end, but we will make sure to make a much bigger deal than we did.”
Alexandra Berzon contributed reporting.
