No sooner than Senate Democratic Minority Leader Lauren Book and fellow Democratic leaders, Sens. Jason Pizzo, Bobby Powell, and Lori Berman penned a letter announcing that they would be setting up a GoFundMe account to subsidize the salaries of school officials if they are suspended for not complying with Gov. Ron DeSantis 'no mask mandate' executive order, CFO Jimmy Patronis calls into question the potential criminality of the move by Senate Democrats.
"If Governor chooses to defund public education and withhold salaries from educators as punishment for protecting students’ health and safety, we will fill the gap to support them in this fight," stated Leader Book.
"Giving money straight to a public official by using @gofundme to affect an outcome? asked Patronis. "Sounds like bribery."
Patronis continued, tweeting, "The second any of these superintendents or school board members accept a cent, they may be breaking the law. Maybe a good question for @IntegrityFL?
Patronis' comments come as several county school boards have openly stated that they would not comply with the governor's order. The embattled Broward County School Board, which is openly supporting Critical Race Theory and praises Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, was recently served with a warning letter from Florida Department of Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, who told the board he was opening an investigation into their "non-compliance" and potential violation of the Parent's Bill of Rights that was recently signed into Florida law.
State Senator Manny Diaz (R) spoke to The Floridan today moments after Gov. DeSantis concluded a press conference in Surfside where he was asked about his order to cut the pay of school officials who defied him.
Sen. Diaz defended Gov. DeSantis, asserting that school children would not be affected by the salary cuts.
"To be clear. what he (DeSantis) has said is he's not withholding the funds that are going to affect the students, what he's saying is if you're in one of these positions, if you are a Superintendent or school board member, where you have a responsibility to follow the law. If someone violates state law and they are in a position where they swore to uphold that, then there are consequences," Diaz said.
We reached out to Sen. Pizzo for a response to Patronis' remarks but the senator did not want to comment, yet.
Also, they all may be breaking the law by using their official office in raising cash for a political outcome. https://t.co/8ovC1aSuMj pic.twitter.com/RCkFFYR5Up
— Jimmy Patronis (@JimmyPatronis) August 10, 2021
