DeSantis Is 'About to Run Up the Score'

Ron DeSantis is poised to have a two-month stretch of political bliss. Meaning, Florida's 60-day legislative session begins on Tuesday, and the governor's wish list is expected to zip through—further cementing his conservative bona fides ahead of an expected 2024 run for the White House. "He is about to run up the score," writes Patricia Mazzei in the New York Times. DeSantis has a veto-proof majority in both houses, notes Axios, and he plans to take full advantage. As longtime lobbyist Brian Ballard puts it to the Tampa Bay Times, "I've never seen a governor in my lifetime with this much absolute control of the agenda in Tallahassee as Ron DeSantis." Legislation in the works could:

• Allow state residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit.
• Make it easier to sue the news media.
• Allow a jury to impose a death sentence even if the vote is not unanimous.
• Limit lawsuits against businesses.
• Impose more restrictions on abortion.
• Further restrict how race and gender are taught in schools. On education in general, the "sizable agenda ranges from targeting school unions to greatly expanding the use of state dollars to send children to private schools," per Politico. Lawmakers "are also gearing up to cancel diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at colleges."
• Toughen laws on immigration.

(More Ron DeSantis stories.)