A recent state report attacked diversity, equity and inclusion programs as wasteful, criticized local governments for what it described as spending taxpayer money by funding grants for therapeutic art, food justice and “assisting illegal aliens.”
Alexis Collum, a 25-year-old artist in Orlando, says she works with groups that do all three.
Collum participated in a city art project last year with a food insecurity theme called “Art Pollination: Building Food Justice Through Creativity.” It received about $142,000 from the city, according to the January report by Florida’s Department of Government Efficiency, which cited the project as an example of wasteful spending. Education materials provided through the project underscored the unequal impact of food insecurity on communities of color.
“Projects like this are really, really important,” Collum said. “Being able to support communities that are under-served and under-funded is important, not only to me, but to the people that are directly impacted, and, I think, our community as a whole.”
Now, after banning DEI spending by state agencies and institutions in recent years, Republican lawmakers in Tallahassee are seeking to bar localities around the state from funding such programs. Legislation in the House and Senate would ban cities and counties from funding any grants to organizations that use them for purposes of diversity, equity and inclusion. It also prohibits local governments from funding offices or staff positions related to DEI.
The issue – which could pass in both chambers as early as this week – has been contentious in the Capitol.
On party-line votes and amid sometimes acrimonious debate with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed, bills have progressed steadily through the legislative committee process, although none has come to a full vote in the GOP-controlled Legislature. There are small differences between the two House and Senate measures that would have to be resolved before the legislation could be signed into law if it passes.
The move to tie municipalities’ hands follows a broader push against diversity initiatives in Florida, including a ban on public universities using state funding for DEI programs that took effect in January 2024. Nationally, President Donald Trump said in his State of the Union address on Feb. 24, “We have ended DEI in America.”
Some examples of programs across the state, cited in the state’s 99-page DEI report, which could be affected by the legislation targeting local DEI programs include:
- In Miami-Dade County: The Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida in Wilton Manors stands to lose nearly $100,000 in local government funding each year, according to the chorus’s executive director, Mark Kent. “We feel that diverse populations certainly pay a fair share of tax dollars, so their voices and stories should be included as much as anyone else’s,” Kent said.
- In Hillsborough County: The county employs an assistant county administrator of equity and community impact at a salary of $170,000 annually, the DOGE report found, as well as other positions such as a community affairs liaison and director of affordable housing. The county told Fresh Take Florida that it “has not established any positions or programs that in any way promote the hiring, advancement or treatment of employees based on race or any other non-merit factor.”
- In Orange County: The Zebra Coalition, a LGBTQ+ youth services nonprofit group, received $223,000 in county funds, the state report said. The county responded that “all county programs are open and accessible to the public.” The Zebra Coalition didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment by phone and email.
- In St. Petersburg: An LGBTQ+ coordinator was paid $87,000, according to the state. The coordinator, who just began his role in December 2025, deferred requests for comment to the city’s public information officer, who did not respond to multiple phone calls and emails.
- In Gainesville: The Equal Opportunity Office was described in the DOGE report as an “Office of Equity and Inclusion.” Mayor Harvey Ward noted that its official title in the City Charter is the “Equal Opportunity Office.” He said he doesn’t think the office, which provides business and housing resources, would be affected by the legislation – although he is concerned about cuts to art organizations such as the Hippodrome Theater. “When the government starts legislating art, it ceases to be art and becomes decoration,” Ward said.
The state report also said a senior staff training program in Alachua County “indoctrinates senior county staff to reject ‘Dominant White Culture.’” County spokesman Mark Sexton said he’s undergone those trainings and found them to be “robust and intellectually stimulating,” not outlets for indoctrination.
Alachua County benefits from diversity, Sexton said, which he described as a value many residents share in the county, one of the few blue counties across Florida. He doesn’t like to use the acronym “DEI,” which he said has been turned into a negative buzzword.
“I prefer to say the words out loud of the acronym,” he said. “Diversity, we value it. Equity, we value it. Inclusion, we value it. And the efforts we make to support and nurture those things would be affected by this bill.”Meanwhile, in Tallahassee, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida is lobbying against the anti-DEI push.
“Put simply, this legislation empowers the state to use its power to shut down progress, silence local governments and target political opponents,” Kara Gross, interim political director of the organization, said in a statement. “That is not normal. It is not consistent with democratic checks and balances.”
Rep. Dean Black, R-Jacksonville, who is sponsoring the local DEI crackdown bill in the House, said he’s spoken to many mayors and local officials over the past few years who, he added, would love to have the burden of managing DEI programs taken off their backs.
“If they try to do it themselves, they get attacked by a woke mob locally,” Black said. “This would relieve them of that and allow them to move on and focus on things that matter to their constituents.”
He added, “They’d really rather deal with more potholes and less politics.”
Local governments, Black continued, should focus only on core services — collecting taxes, keeping the public safe, and running local courts — to reduce the tax burden on citizens.Beyond those limited functions, there "isn't much else for them to do,” he said.
Under the legislation, any city or county official who violates the provisions against DEI commits malfeasance, which critics fear could result in public officials being removed from office. If passed and signed into law, the legislation would take effect in January 2027.
For weeks, the bills have sparked fierce debate and a stream of public comment at committee hearings in the Senate and House. In the House Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee meeting on Feb. 5, Rep. Kim Kendall, R-St. Johns, said she thinks the bill’s opponents come from a “good place” but don’t understand the disruptive effects of inclusive policies. She brought up conversations she’s had with public school teachers and students as an example.
“I hear from teachers and kids that the ‘furries’ are disruptive in class, that they're a protected class, the big fur tails and claws and hair on the leg warmers,” she said, referring to a subculture of people interested in animal characters with human characteristics who sometimes dress to reflect that. “I can tell I’m emotional, because it hurts me. These students don’t want to just learn.”Although Black’s bill doesn’t target public schools specifically, another bill moving through the Legislature seeks to ban diversity, equity and inclusion funding in K-12 public schools. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Dana Trabulsy, R-Fort Pierce, recently passed a full-floor House vote 82-31. Rep. Kimberly Daniels, D-Jacksonville, voted with Republicans to approve the measure.
For its part, the Florida Association of Counties is monitoring this legislation closely, said Director of External Affairs Cragin Mosteller. The association opposes the bill and believes counties should be able to make decisions based on feedback from their constituents, not from Tallahassee, she said. “Every year, the Legislature does look to preempt local government and their local authority,” Mosteller said. “But I would say over the last couple of years it's gotten more pronounced.”
Sen. Barbara Sharief, D-Davie, was one of the two Democrats on the Community Affairs Committee to vote against the bill in February.
Sharief said she fears the measure would affect holidays and observances. The bill allows funding for some observances, like Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but only if they’re state or federal holidays or observances; it does not ban counties and cities from recognizing people or events related to Black history and Florida African American heritage.
“That's not sufficient enough to cover local cultural events celebrating local people,” she said, adding that considering enacting possible charges of malfeasance and removal from office for promoting DEI programs was a “hard reach.”
It’s not the first time Florida art nonprofits have battled cuts. Last year, the National Endowment for the Arts eliminated a diversity program that previously helped fund 35 Florida groups. At the state level, Gov. Ron DeSantis also vetoed more than $30 million in grants in 2024.
At the time, the governor said that sexual content at the Fringe Festival, an internationally organized theater festival held annually in cities including Tampa and Orlando, prompted his action.
Collum, a Florida native and eight-year Orlando resident, said cuts to projects like the one she joined last year would be “heartbreaking.” The yearslong endeavor enlisted over 20 artists to create art installations across Orlando and included activities like nutrition workshops, a poetry slam and a grow-your-own pollinator plant event.
“There was so much positive feedback that was given from the community,” Collum said of the project. “You could see it on their faces.”
Orlando spokesperson Ashley Papagni said in an email that the city will “continue to closely monitor all proposed legislation and carefully review each bill to determine its impact on our community, residents and businesses.”
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This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at thomaszoey@ufl.edu. You can donate to support our students here.