Nick DiCeglie: Florida is leading the nation to ’empower parents’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In an interview with Florida’s Voice, Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-St. Petersburg, urged parents become more involved in their children’s education.

He said a few years ago, parents would “hear about indoctrination of children in our schools.”

“When you first hear that, you think yourself, there’s no way I can’t even get my arms around that. Well, guess what? It was,” DiCeglie said. “It was a real thing.”

In March 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Act, falsely dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by some activists, which prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten.

In April 2022, the governor signed the “Stop W.O.K.E Act,” banning educators and workplace employers from teaching Floridians that their “moral character” is determined by race, sex, or national origin. 

During the 2023 Legislative Session, lawmakers passed multiple bills relating to protecting children.

Some laws include: penalizing businesses and people who admit children into “adult live performances,” a six-week abortion ban, parental rights expansion, legislation to ban sex reassignment surgeries and medications for minors, separating male and females/having unisex bathrooms in schools, restricting access to social media websites on school district networks, and more.

“We advanced legislation that empowers parents to be the ones that ultimately make these decisions for the best needs of their children,” DiCeglie said.

DiCeglie told Florida’s Voice while lawmakers advanced legislation laying out curriculum in schools, there are “always loopholes. He said it is up to parents to “ultimately make sure that the curriculum is what it’s supposed to be, making sure that it’s appropriate.”

Looking onward to the 2024 Legislative Session, bills have already been filed to support Florida’s pregnant women and families, supporting public schools, protect children and school campuses from “individuals with serious mental health issues who have threatened harm to themselves,” to name a few.

“Year after year, we’re always going to find ways to make sure that we’re empowering parents – we’re protecting children,” DiCeglie said.

DiCeglie said he believes the state has done a “great job” in leading the nation when it comes to “empowering parents.”

He said the best way for “our republic to be successful” is “citizen engagement,” and encouraged parents to get involved – whether that’s at the local, state, or federal level.

“Each and every one of us – I believe – have a have a role to play, whether it’s you’re a parent […] a community leader, whether you’re just a citizen… people have got to get engaged in what’s going on, because unfortunately, things are changing, I think in a negative way,” DiCeglie said.

DiCeglie said he has an open door policy, and encourages community members to share any issues.

“I want to know from my constituents what’s going on, because we have proved year in, year out that we are not afraid to champion some good legislation to empower our children, and ultimately, our community as a whole,” DiCeglie said.

Upcoming 2024 Legislative Session

Florida’s Voice reported another bill, filed by DiCeglie, which aims to prevent juveniles who are convicted of crimes as an adult from playing high school sports.

DiCeglie told Florida’s Voice about a Pinellas County situation that took place where a student was killed in a boating accident. The individual who was held responsible for the death was able to remain in high school and continue playing sports, according to DiCeglie.

”We just want to make sure that anytime there’s a situation like this, where there’s a crime and tragic accident, but someone is ultimately held responsible, to prevent that individual from participating in a high school sports or competitive activity,” he said. “I think it’s something that’s very appropriate.”

DiCeglie told Florida’s Voice he is also working with Rep. Tiffany Esposito, R-Fort Myers, on a permitting reform bill.

“I’ve heard time and time again, from folks who just want to take a general permit for a small project to large developments,” DiCeglie said. “The permitting process is different in every single jurisdiction – some jurisdictions do a great job, it’s pretty efficient, it’s streamlined, where other jurisdictions, it takes months and months, it’s bogged down by bureaucratic red tape.”

DiCeglie said lawmakers have a “pretty large” reform package. He said they tried to pass it last year but it “wasn’t ready for prime time.”

The lawmaker said he has had several conversations over the summer with local leaders to find out best practices that can be incorporated into the legislation.

DiCeglie said policymakers are also looking at legislation relating to first responders and workman’s compensation, especially for firefighters who are susceptible to cancers and diseases related to the environment they are in.

He said “many times” lawmakers are limited to specific specialists in-network, and in order to go out of network it may cost them “thousands of dollars.”

“They’re putting their lives on the line each and every day, and that’s a piece of legislation that I’m very excited to advance here in the legislature,” DiCeglie said.

DiCeglie said they are continuing to work on legislation relating to vacation rentals, which he previously carried, although it did not make it through the last session.

“We were trying to create a uniform set of regulations for local governments, which is going to make it easy for them to regulate this issue, and it kind of was not reported by some outlets that way,” DiCeglie explained.

He noted health care will be a hot topic in the upcoming session.

“President Passidomo has made it very clear that this is her priority. And, you know, certainly looking forward to dealing with any type of issue that’s going to keep our our costs under control,” DiCeglie said.

Florida’s Voice previously reported that Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, set an upcoming goal aiming to grow Florida’s health care workforce, increase access and incentivize innovation for Floridians to have “more options and opportunities to live healthy.”

DiCeglie said “we’re going through very difficult times here in the state,” noting affordability issues.

“Whether it’s health care, whether it’s insurance, property, or auto, obviously the federal decisions over the last couple years have really contributed to inflation in general,” DiCeglie said.

He said going to the grocery store has been “very challenging” for many people.

“I’m looking forward to working with all my colleagues this coming session to kind of get these costs under control, and really advance some good policy that’s going to make a difference in people’s lives,” DiCeglie said.