(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . A look at GOP governor records of DeSantis and Haley, with both vying for a presidential nominee [1] ['Mitch Perry', 'More From Author', '- December'] Date: 2023-12-05 With less than six weeks before Iowans become the first Republicans in the nation to cast votes on their presidential nominee next November, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, are positioned to fill the void if frontrunner Donald Trump stumbles. Political analysts believe the two have the campaign infrastructure and financial backing to be able to surpass Trump — if he were to somehow lose his overwhelming lead in all state and national polls next year. As Haley’s poll numbers have ascended in recent months, she and DeSantis have clashed on a variety of policy issues. But how did they govern while in office? With that in mind, the Florida Phoenix looked at gubernatorial records of the two candidates while serving in their statehouses and focusing on specific issues. Although they both were elected to two terms in office as governor, not everything about their time in leading their states is comparable. Haley served six years as governor (2011-2017) before stepping down and becoming the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. DeSantis is about to mark his fifth full year in office next month (2019- present). Also, the fact that Haley served in an earlier time than DeSantis makes some comparisons difficult, because of the changing values of the Republican Party. For example, take so-called “bathroom bans” that restrict transgender people’s access to restrooms. This spring Gov. DeSantis signed the “Safety in Private Spaces Act,” a law that dictates that people must use the bathroom of their biological sex at birth as defined by the state. In contrast, when she was governor of South Carolina in 2016, Haley told reporters that she felt such legislation wasn’t necessary. “Like it or not, South Carolina’s doing really well when it comes to respect and when it comes to kindness and when it comes to acceptance,” she said. Case closed on that? Not really. Conservatives had a more libertarian take on the issue at that time in history. “Leave it the way it is,” then-candidate Donald Trump told the Today Show when asked about a bathroom bill that had passed in North Carolina in 2016. “There have been very few complaints the way it is,” he said. “People go. They use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate.” And when he was running for governor in 2018, DeSantis said at a GOP forum that said, “Getting into bathroom wars, I don’t think that’s a good use of our time,” according to the Tampa Bay Times. Dr. Susan MacManus, professor emerita at the University of South Florida, says there was one major development that came between the tenures of Haley and the part of DeSantis’ first term in office: COVID-19. “COVID is what changed the whole political spectrum in the United States and it’s what let DeSantis take charge in the way that he did in the past few years and it really did change the way that people look at politics, where they get their information from, the whole gamut, and I think it’s one of most monumental shifts that we’ve seen in American politics because we’ve basically had party realignment, and the impetus for that was the pandemic,” she said. As of Monday afternoon, only DeSantis, Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy were certain to grace the debate stage on the University of Alabama campus Wednesday night in the fourth and final GOP presidential debate of the year. It may be the closest to a DeSantis-Haley duel that Republican voters want to see, MacManus said, though the question of how big that audience will be is in doubt. The ratings for the third GOP presidential debate held in Miami last month that aired on NBC drew 7.5 million viewers, according to the Hollywood Reporter. That was down from 9.5 million for the second debate, and down from 13 million viewers for the first debate that aired on Fox News in August. And Wednesday’s debate will air on NewsNation, a cable news network that many viewers aren’t familiar with. “It’s a dicey time to have a debate because people do not like campaigning during the holiday season,” she says. “From now until New Years, I don’t know why anyone spends any money on advertising or whatever else.” With that said, here’s a look at how the two candidates handled certain policy issues while in office as governor. Abortion Haley: In 2016, Haley signed legislation in 2016 that banned abortions after 20 weeks, with no exceptions for rape or incest. DeSantis: In 2022, DeSantis signed legislation banning abortion in Florida after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape, incest or human trafficking. In 2023, DeSantis signed legislation banning abortion in Florida after six weeks of pregnancy, though with exceptions for rape and incest. The constitutionality of the 15-week ban is currently before the Florida Supreme Court Justices; if they maintain the law, the six-week ban will go into effect shortly afterward. On the campaign trail this year, Haley has set herself apart from her [male] opponents by saying that while she believes there’s a role for the federal government to play in crafting abortion policy, she’s also said that Republicans running for the presidency must be honest with voters. It’s highly unlikely to get at least 60 senators to move abortion legislation past the U.S. Senate’s legislative filibuster. DeSantis is now saying somewhat of the same thing. He defends his six-week abortion ban but told Meet The Press on Sunday that “Congress is not going to do any type of abortion legislation.” Immigration Haley: In 2011, Haley signed S20, an anti-immigration bill, which allowed law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of people if a “reasonable suspicion” exists that they were in the country illegally. It came a year after Arizona passed SB 1070, considered at the time the most sweeping anti-immigration law from any state in the country. The law not only led to a coalition of civil rights groups to file a lawsuit against the state, but so did the U.S. Department of Justice, claiming the law was unconstitutional and interfered with the federal government’s authority to set and enforce immigration policy. In 2014, that civil rights coalition announced a settlement with South Carolina that permanently blocked a provision of the law, no longer allowing state and local police to extend regular traffic stops to determine the immigration status of suspects. DeSantis: In 2023, DeSantis signed SB 1718, certainly the most sweeping immigration bill since the spasm of such bills were filed in the early 2010s and one of the most far reaching by a state ever. It includes a number of provisions: requiring private employers with 25 or more employees to use the E-Verify system to determine the legal status of all workers; enhances the crime of human smuggling when smuggling a minor, more than five people, or when the defendant has a prior conviction for human smuggling; makes human smuggling a third-degree felony when he or she “knowingly” transports an individual into the state who is not a legal citizen; requires any hospital that accepts Medicaid to include a question on its admission or registration forms inquiring whether the patient is a U.S. citizen; appropriated $12 million to the state’s Department of Emergency Management to remove undocumented immigrants. A coalition of groups have filed a legal challenge to the law. In 2019, in his first year in office, DeSantis immediately dipped into the culture wars by declaring that Florida would prohibit any “sanctuary cities.” The law forbid law enforcement agencies and local government from adopting policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Health care/Medicaid expansion Haley: She was governor when the issue of whether to expand Medicaid coverage first came to the states after the Affordable Care Act went into effect a decade ago. In 2013, she said at a meeting with the Republican Governors Association that South Carolina “will not expand Medicaid ever,” according to The Wall Street Journal. DeSantis: DeSantis was serving in Congress at the time when the Affordable Care Act became the law of the land and was rejected by then Gov. Rick Scott (DeSantis was in Congress at the time. That’s where he voted to repeal and replace major parts of the ACA in 2017). When DeSantis ran for governor in 2018, he announced he was against expanding Medicaid, and he has steadfastly maintained that stance since serving in office. South Carolina and Florida remain two of only ten states that haven’t expanded Medicaid coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation). Elections Haley: Signed a voter ID bill into law in her first year in office. It was a time where Republicans were less concerned about “election integrity” issues, and no other election type bill came to her desk. DeSantis: He has signed three major election reform bills into law over the past three years: In 2021, he signed SB 90, which prohibited supervisors of elections from mailing a vote-by-mail ballot without a request; reduced the number of elections that a voter can request a vote-by-mail ballot; limit the use of drop boxes and banned ballot harvesting (DeSantis said earlier this year that while he opposes ballot harvesting, his campaign will do it in states where it’s legal). In 2022, he signed SB 524, which created the Office of Election Crimes and Security within the Department of State to investigate election law violations; increased and created penalties against third-party voting registration organizations and bans ranked-choice voting. And in 2023, he signed SB 7050, which among its provisions enhances fines and creates more barriers for third-party voting registration groups. It also adds information to voter registration cards saying that the card is proof of registration but is not legal verification of eligibility to vote, absolving the state when it comes to who should take responsibility about a voter’s eligibility. Guns Haley: In 2014, Haley signed legislation allowing gun owners with concealed weapons permits to bring their guns into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. Also in 2014, Haley announced her support for a so-called “constitutional carry” bill or permitless carry bill that would allow individuals to carry concealed guns without a permit or training. The bill did not pass. Gun safety advocates also note that after mass shooting attack at a historic Black church in Charleston in 2015, she did not advocate for any changes to gun laws in the state. DeSantis: The Florida Gov. signed a permitless carry bill in the 2023 session. He declined to pass an ‘open carry’ bill that Second Amendment advocates were pushing him to support. Death penalty Haley: Only one person was executed during Haley’s time as governor – Jeffrey Brian Motts – in 2011. That was the last execution in the state, after the state’s supply of lethal injection drugs expired and companies refused to sell them more unless the transaction, could be kept secret, according to the Associated Press. DeSantis – In his first full term in office, DeSantis ordered two executions, both in 2019, his first year in office. But just this year alone there have been six prisoners executed in Florida, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The governor also signed two bills to make it easier to execute people in 2023. One proposal (SB 450) reduces the number of jurors needed to administer capital punishment from unanimous to a supermajority of eight out of twelve. The other bill (HB 1297) allows for the death penalty to those who commit sexual battery on children under the age of 12. Banning boycotts against Israel Haley: Signed legislation in 2015 banning the state from entering into contracts with companies that participated in certain boycotts. It was labeled as the first state to stop the boycott, divest and sanction movement that began targeting Israel, according to The Jerusalem Post. DeSantis: Florida signed a similar law in 2016 while DeSantis was still serving in Congress (though he applauded it at the time). In 2019 he placed economic sanctions on Airbnb when it attempted to boycott Jewish homeowners in Judea and Samaria. In October, DeSantis was joined by Attorney General Ashley Moody and CFO Jimmy Patronis to place Morningstar-Sustainalytics on Florida’s List of Scrutinized Companies that Boycott Israel after being placed under continued examination by the State Board of Administration (SBA) since August. DeSantis also signed legislation last month that amended the Protect Florida Investment Act to expand the definition of “scrutinized company” to include any company doing business with the government of Iran in the energy, petrochemical, financial, construction, manufacturing, textile, mining, metals, shipping, shipbuilding or port sectors. DeSantis called for the legislation just days after the attack, saying that it was clear that Iran was behind it and he would respond in kind by increasing sanctions against the Iranian government and block Iranian business in the state. [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/12/05/a-look-at-gop-governor-records-of-desantis-and-haley-with-both-vying-for-a-presidential-nominee/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/