Danny Perez says House is continuing parental rights theme in upcoming session

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Rep. Danny Perez, R-Miami, said he is excited to serve under Speaker of the House Paul Renner’s leadership as the 2023 Legislative Session nears.

“He’s been doing a phenomenal job thus far of being bold and getting ahead of the curve the way that we like to do here in Florida,” Perez said. “So I’m excited to support him in any way that I can and I know that the rest of the chamber feels the same way.”

Florida’s Voice spoke with Perez about Florida’s supermajorities. He said the goal is to “never have to use them” and hopes they pass policies that “everyone can agree with.”

Florida’s Voice asked Perez his thoughts on a bill that expands the Parental Rights in Education Act from K-3 grades to Prekindergarten through 8th grade. The legislation prohibits school teachers from teaching sexual orientation or gender identity in those grade levels.

“The theme as of late here in the House has been making sure that parents make the decisions and whatever they believe is in the best interest of their children,” Perez said.

A school choice bill, HB 1, aims to promote parental involvement and “customize” K-12 education in Florida. It provides additional financial support for families and flexibility for school districts.

“If there is a school that better fits the needs of their child, we want the parents to have the ability to put their children in that school, while at the same time we’re making sure that schools are also being held accountable,” Perez said.

Florida’s Voice asked Perez his thoughts on legislation that prohibits sex reassignment procedures from being performed or prescribed on minors.

Perez said the purpose of legislation like those is to “make sure that we allow children to be children.”

“When we’re talking about surgery, or a procedure that is going to permanently change the gender of this young boy or this young girl, you know, that is something that is a different conversation than an opinion, we’re talking about something permanent,” Perez said.

Perez said when children turn 18 and become adults, then “that will be their choice.”

“And so what we want to do is we want children to be able to be children, if at the age of 18, when they’re adults, if that is something that they choose to do, then that will be their choice to make when they’re an adult,” Perez said.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a series of proposals to crackdown on illegal immigration. The proposals include increasing penalties for human smuggling, requiring employers use E-Verify, and clamping down on illegal immigrants voting.

Perez said President Joe Biden has done “a terrible job with immigration” and credited DeSantis for “getting ahead of the issue as best he can.”

“We don’t want illegal immigration, we want legal migration. And so Governor DeSantis has been very brave in getting ahead of the issue and protecting Florida as best as he can,” Perez said.

Perez said that the goal is to “protect Floridians first” and said it is important to talk about the difference between those who are coming into the U.S. undocumented and those who are coming to seek political asylum. He pointed out that those are “two distinctly different paths.”

“We need to protect our Floridians first and our resources need to go to those that are living in Florida, that are here legally and that’s our goal,” Perez said.

“Many times you’ll hear the counter argument that well, you know, the Cubans or the Venezuelans are trying to come into this country to flee from a dictatorship, well when a Cuban person is seeking political asylum that is very different than a person who chose to cross the border undocumented, without going through the political asylum process,” Perez said.