Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is under fire for vetoing a bipartisan bill that would have alerted beachgoers in his state when there are dangerous water quality issues, the Tampa Bay Times reported on Thursday.
"The bill required the Florida Department of Health to issue health advisories if water quality failed to meet the agency’s standards and required closing polluted beaches 'if it is deemed necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public,' according to a House staff analysis of the bill," reported Max Chesnes. "The measure also required municipalities and counties to notify the state health department of unsafe water quality within 24 hours and required counties to post signs warning of unsafe waters, according to the bill."
DeSantis, along with his conspiracy theorist surgeon general Joseph Ladapo, called the bill "ill-advised" and rejected it over the provision that would let the Department of Health supersede local governments to close beaches.
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During the COVID pandemic, DeSantis faced massive pressure to issue beach closures, which he did, but only briefly, before proclaiming that his state was "free." Florida proceeded to have high rates of infection and death, but DeSantis often misrepresented the statistics to claim otherwise.
“Our water quality issues are not going to go away, and ignoring it is not going to solve the problem,” Democratic state Rep. Lindsay Cross of St. Petersburg, who sponsored the legislation, told reporters. “I thought there was no way the governor would veto something that was sponsored by a bipartisan slate of elected officials with unanimous approval in both chambers that would protect people’s public health. Why would you veto something like that?” She added that “It’s negligent for us not to tell Floridians and give them the information they need to make informed decisions."
Some Republicans who backed the bill, however, are refusing to criticize the governor for tanking it. “I totally respect his position,” said GOP state Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman. “I wouldn’t want to sign something I didn’t think was quite right, either. I do get that.”
DeSantis enjoyed a national boost to his profile after winning re-election in 2022, which he tried to leverage into a campaign for president that ended with former President Donald Trump going nuclear with opposition and him crashing and burning electorally.
