(The Center Square) – Florida would get a statewide counterterrorism and counterintelligence unit under a bill that cleared the Budget Committee in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
House Bill 945 would require the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to establish and run the unit. It would cost an estimated $2.2 million in its first year and $1.4 million in recurring funds each year after that, according to bill sponsor Rep. Daniel Alvarez, R-Hillsborough.
It has received some pushback from both Democrats and Republicans for concerns of potential government overreach including fears that people could become targets for their political speech or beliefs.
Alvarez said he is aware of the concerns and has an amendment forthcoming to address it, but that amendment wasn’t a part of Tuesday’s debate.
“I have concerns about abuses of this language, understanding that most everything this bill would permit a law enforcement agency to do would already largely be permitted with the proper documentation and warrants. Given the fact that the definition is so broad and not simply limited to hostile foreign nations or recognized terrorist groups,” said Rep. Robert Andrade, R-Santa Rosa, who voted against the bill progressing.
He said he had “grave concerns” about the bill going into statute as is but added he would support it in the future if the concerns were addressed.
Several organizations spoke in opposition during the public comment period including the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the First Amendment Foundation.
“Americans do not support, and absolutely recoil, at the thought of being surveilled or catalogued for their beliefs,” said Bobby Block, a representative for the First Amendment Foundation. “I’m grateful for the notion that changes are coming but I’m not sure that they are going to be sufficient based on what I’ve been hearing.”
Alvarez said a future committee meeting would address the amendment that would cover the concerns highlighted before the Budget Committee.
“I want you to realize something: the reason that we’re codifying this, or that we’re trying to, is so that when you have an issue on a statewide level, our borders don’t protect us anymore,” Alvarez said. “Criminals and terrorists do not understand where Sarasota begins and where Tampa ends. The idea is that we need someone looking statewide formally that can’t be pulled off for a DUI or can’t be pulled off for a bodyguard, they are dedicated to a counterterror mission.”
A twin bill is currently working its way through committees in the Senate.
If passed and signed into law, the bill would take effect in July. After that, the Department of Law Enforcement would have until the following year to establish the new counterterrorism unit.
