Pembroke Pines leaders weigh impact of state DEI funding law on city programs
Pembroke Pines leaders are weighing the impact of a law signed last week by Gov. Ron DeSantis that will prohibit counties and local municipalities from funding or promoting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Mayor Angelo Castillo told the Pembroke Pines News that the city has begun doing its “homework” to prepare for compliance ahead of the law’s Jan. 1 effective date.
“It looks as though there are numerous proclamations that have traditionally been issued by the city celebrating diversity and potentially numerous events that the city will no longer be able to hold,” Castillo said.
Castillo said those events are well attended and have become part of the city’s identity.
“You can even say they’ve become traditional to the city’s way of doing business,” he said. “They are very well received by our residents, but we will follow the law.”
The law is part of a broader push by DeSantis to restrict DEI initiatives across the state. During a news conference, the governor said these programs discriminate against certain groups, including white men.
“The disfavored groups, No. 1, obviously, would be white males, and I think they’ve been discriminated against,” DeSantis said at the news conference in Jacksonville.
Castillo said the new law will change how the city recognizes and celebrates its residents.
“It will change the way the city celebrates the characteristics of birth or chance of the residents in the city, which has long been something we’ve done,” Castillo said. “I just don’t see where this is necessary and we think that we in Pembroke Pines know the city better than anyone in Tallahassee.”
He also called the measure “yet another unprecedented intrusion into local home rule, completely unnecessary, an imposition of ideology that we here in our city don’t feel that was required, helpful or welcomed.”
The mayor said the city is working with its legal team to determine next steps and avoid potential violations.
City Attorney Sam Goren told the Pembroke Pines News that an internal memo issued April 1, before the bill was codified into law, warned commissioners about the law’s broad language and potential legal risks.
The memo, briefly discussed at the city commission meeting on April 15, states that cities would still be permitted to recognize certain federal and state holidays such as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Juneteenth and Veterans Day.
In terms of the future of city-issued proclamations, the memo warns proclamations outside those categories, such as Greek or Irish Heritage Month, are not explicitly protected and could expose the city to legal risk depending on how the statute is interpreted.
Goren emphasized that because the statute is broad, it has multiple interpretations, opening the door to severe penalties for public officials who do not comply.
According to the memo, the city’s Diversity and Heritage Advisory Board “may not be able to legally exist in its current form and with its current mission.” The city may need to look at revising the board’s name and responsibilities to comply with the law.
The memo outlines limited circumstances in which DEI-related actions would still be allowed, including compliance with federal law and state holidays.
Vice Mayor Michael Hernandez criticized the legislation, calling it “a fix in search of a flaw.”
“I’ve been on the ballot twice in 17 months in Broward’s second-largest city. Not one voter complained to me about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs,” Hernandez told the Pembroke Pines News.
“They did however express deep dissatisfaction with rising property insurances costs, which the legislature in Tallahassee once again failed to take up, the lack of a state budget and ideological legislation like this one taking priority over legitimate challenges all Floridians are facing.”
Under the law, residents can sue local governments for violations. Those found to have funded DEI initiatives in violation could also be removed from office.
“I expect that this law will be challenged in the courts and I’m sure that the state is braced for that as well,” Castillo said.
