Florida Representative Presses to Preserve, Restore Confederate Monuments

Confederate monuments in Florida could be rising from the dead if a proposed bill makes it through the Legislature this year.

The bill of State Rep. Dean Black, R-Jacksonville, would not only outlaw the removal of Confederate monuments and other historical memorials, but also require local governments to replace those that have been removed since 2017.

In Jacksonville, Mayor Donna Deegan recently removed two statues honoring women of the Confederacy, the Florida Time-Union reported.

House Bill 395 is entitled the Historical Monuments and Memorials Protection Act.

“It is the intent of the Legislature that the state of Florida takes all actions to protect and preserve all historical monuments and memorials from removal, damage, or destruction,” the bill reads.

Any elected official who violates the law is subject to a fine or removal from office.

If local governments don’t have the funds to restore monuments taken down since 2017, state funds will be provided and then deducted from future state grants, the proposal says.

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