Debra Joshua was among the scores of people who participated in the 45th Martin Luther King Jr. Grand Parade through Downtown Jacksonville on Jan. 19, 2026. Joshua says equity is an ideal that is needed more in 2026. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on March 4, 2026 at 4:59 pm
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A quintet of municipal leaders from across the peninsula devoted their Wednesday afternoon to decrying the latest effort by two Jacksonville legislators to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion from local government.
Rep. Dean Black, R- Jacksonville, and Sen. Clay Yarborough, R- Jacksonville, filed bills (HB 1001 / SB 1134) in their chambers that would prohibit cities and counties from spending any dollars on diversity, equity and inclusion offices.
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The bills also would require recipients of city or county contracts “to make a certification to the county or municipality” that they are not using money to fund diversity, equity and inclusion — otherwise known as DEI.
The Florida Senate is expected to discuss the bill this week.
Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Genece Minshew stated that the city would likely eliminate its annual contribution to local nonprofits to ensure it is compliant with the new laws.
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“We will take money from old people, poor people and battered women’s shelters,” Minshew said. “That’s not what we want to do, nor (what) our community wants us to do. We feel this bill puts us against the wall.”
Progress Florida organized the virtual call, which featured Minshew, Tallahassee City Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox, Leon County Commissioner David O’Keefe, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis and St. Petersburg Mayor Kenneth Welch.
Trantalis said the bills target gays, Black Americans, people of color and women. He claimed that if the bills are passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, it would force the cancellation of scores of cultural events across the state.
The House bill does allow for the recognition of public holidays, observances and memorials including the birth of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 15; the Martin Luther King Day; Juneteenth; Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day each March; Pascua Florida Day in April; and more.
Black disagreed with that sentiment. During a House Commerce Committee meeting Feb. 26, Black noted services and events that were open to everyone would not be considered preferential treatment.
“Many people focus on public celebrations — and that’s not most of what this bill does,” Black told the Commerce Committee. “What we really want to do is promote merit. We want to hire the best people to do the job in our government. We want to promote merit. We want to make sure for contracting that we get the very best dollar for taxpayer dollars. Not trying to promote some other philosophical agenda.”
Black believes diversity, equity and inclusion have divided society into competing factions.
“Shutting down people’s food festivals is not the intent of this bill,” Black told the Commerce Committee. “If, on the other hand, you are trying to do something that promotes division and is tearing us apart as a society, that’s what we’re looking at.”
DEI and businesses
Williams-Cox says the bill could impact women and minority-owned business procurement. The Senate bill stipulates that vendors or recipients of municipal grants could not use the public dollars to require its employees, contractors, volunteers, vendors or agents to “ascribe to, study or be instructed using materials relating to diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Since the Jacksonville Small & Emerging Business program was created in 2004, it has provided scores of local businesses with contracting and public procurement opportunities that their talents merit.
The program has been touted by both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan has relied on the city’s Small and Emerging Business program as part of her goal to cultivate small business development here.
Deegan’s office told Jacksonville Today it is monitoring the progress of Black’s and Yarborough’s bills, as well as others, that are going through the Legislature.
The 60-day session is supposed to conclude March 13, but the fate of these bills may arrive earlier.
The full Florida House cannot consider bills on second reading after the 55th day of a legislative session. This year the 55th day of the session is March 9. After March 12, the Florida House may consider only concurrent resolutions from the Florida Senate or returning messages from the larger chamber.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried says Black’s and Yarborough’s bills are an intimidation tactic that will undermine local governments.
“Not only are these bills mean-spirited and misguided, they will whitewash history and ignore the unique burdens marginalized communities face,” Fried said in a statement. “They will impact every sector of our civic life including public health, small business development, and how and what our communities celebrate. Everything is at risk from Latin music festivals, Black History Month programs, and grants for women business owners, to Chinese New Year, St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, and Pride Parades.
“Voters are tired of the culture wars and this is just another example of how unproductive Tallahassee has become. In 53 days they have only passed 15 pieces of legislation out of over 1,000. Instead of focusing on solving the affordability and insurance crisis for Floridians, Republicans would rather further diminish the power of local government and dismantle programs that do real good.”
Minshew mentioned that her property tax bill doubled from $6,000 to $13,000 this year.
As for the bills that her legislators filed — both Black’s and Yarborough’s districts cover the entirety of Nassau County — Minshew says the ambiguity within the bills will hamstring local governments.
“Frankly, both of these legislators are in very carved-out, conservative districts,” Minshew said. “They were elected with big majorities. We understand that. When you talk to folks in Nassau County and the parts of Duval County they represent, they are talking about development, affordability and property taxes. They are not talking about DEI or whether we should be in a MLK (Day) parade.”
