TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law expanding Florida’s prohibitions on public entities’ engagement with companies and organizations that boycott Israel.
What it does: SB 1678, carried by Sen. Tom Leek and Rep. Hillary Cassel, expands Florida’s existing anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or “BDS” law, by including academic boycotts, mandating divestment from boycotting entities, requiring anti-discrimination certifications for arts grants, and restricting contracts with foreign educational institutions that boycott Israel.
- The bill broadens the definition of a “boycott of Israel” to explicitly include academic boycotts. This means an educational institution, or its departments, engaging in policies or activities that restrict academic relationships based on ties to Israel or its institutions will be deemed in violation.
- The State Board of Administration, which manages the state’s public fund, is required to divest from any companies, educational institutions, or even foreign governments found to be engaging in a boycott of Israel, under the bill. Universities within the State University System must also divest their endowment and retirement funds from such entities.
- The State Board of Administration is also mandated under the bill to identify and place companies and other entities that boycott Israel on a “Scrutinized Companies or Other Entities that Boycott Israel List.”
The law takes effect July 1.