Records obtained through a series of public-records requests show that DeSantis’ office recently developed a sweeping plan to overhaul higher-education oversight in Florida. The governor’s proposal would have centralized more power in boards run by the governor’s political appointees, made colleges and universities more dependent on money controlled by politicians in Tallahassee, and imposed more restrictions on what schools can teach.
The DeSantis plan would have even stripped university presidents of the ability to hire professors.
Higher education isn’t the governor’s only potential target.
The records show that DeSantis’ staff also drew up proposals targeting newspapers, state attorneys and school boards. They devised plans to take control of everything from local toll-road agencies to high-school sports. And amidst it all, they wanted to make it harder to legally challenge the governor’s own authority.
All these ideas were included in legislation drafted at the request of the governor’s office in the weeks leading up to the 2022 legislative session, which began in January and ended in March. The drafts surfaced in post-session public-records requests seeking copies of communications between DeSantis’ office and the Legislature.
Only a few fragments ultimately made it into bills that were passed into law, though it’s not clear whether that was because DeSantis decided not to pursue them right now or whether legislative leaders privately objected.
But DeSantis could resurrect any of them in the future — whether through executive edict or, if he is re-elected this fall, in future legislative sessions. The governor’s office declined to answer questions about DeSantis’ intentions.
But even if he decides not to do anything further, the DeSantis drafts offer a window into the thinking of one of the most powerful Republican politicians in the United States — one who is widely expected to run for president in 2024.