By Matthew C. Woodruff
The Florida governor has made his “anti-woke” agenda a key theme of his flailing presidential campaign, arguing that he is tougher on “wokeness” than Donald Trump. According to The New Republic’s Tori Otten, DeSantis’ “anti-woke” obsession is costing Florida taxpayers a fortune.
What DeSantis doesn’t want Floridians to know is about the millions of taxpayer dollars he has wasted as courts repeatedly knock those anti-woke laws he pushed through the State Legislature.
He gutted abortion rights, LGBTQ protections, academic freedom and Black voting districts. He also has been locked in a bizarre legal battle in his effort to punish Disney for the past year. He has repeatedly held up these accomplishments as signs of success.
DeSantis has spent more than $17 million defending his unconstitutional laws in court since he took office. As a result, the state budget for 2023 includes a $15.8 million allotment just to defend his policies.
The State University System Board of Governors received an extra $2 million to defend DeSantis’s “Stop Woke” Act, and the attorney general’s office got an additional $5 million to defend the state’s backward Covid-19 vaccination policies.
So far, his administration has spent the most defending laws restricting voting rights, transgender health care, and academic freedom. But despite his best efforts, and his hefty coffers, most of those laws were still overturned.
About the Author:
Matthew is an independent journalist and internationally awarded author.
Matthew’s first book, “26 Absurdities of Tragic Proportions” was chosen as a finalist in the 2019 American Fiction Awards and awarded a Bronze Medal in the 2021 Readers’ Favorites International Book Awards.
A native New Yorker, Matthew is now on staff at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. Matthew’s vision of the world around us is unique and not to be missed. You can find out more at www.matthewcwoodruff.com.