JACKSONVILLE, Florida (LifeSiteNews) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation on Thursday giving Floridians legal recourse when punished by woke banks for their actions or views such as for their religious practice or ownership of a firearm.
HB 989 strengthens Floridians’ protections from banks that may attempt to coerce certain ESG (leftist environmental, social, governance) behaviors by denying services due to certain practices, such as fighting illegal immigration, that do not align with the financial institution’s values.
The legislation specifically adds provisions to an existing law, declaring it is “an unsafe and unsound practice for a financial institution” not only to deny or cancel but to “suspend or terminate” its services to a person on the basis of their politics, religion, or other factors that are not “impartial and risk based.”
It also provides for a process by which Floridians can submit a complaint to the state’s Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) if they “reasonably believ(e)” that a “financial institution has acted in bad faith in taking action restricting access” to their account.
During a press conference before the signing of HB 989, DeSantis explained the impetus behind the new law and its foundational predecessor, citing cases in which Floridians had their banking services terminated for ideological reasons.
“Moms for Liberty, they’re very much active in Florida and around the country in education, promoting parents’ rights, good curriculum. They had their account frozen by PayPal for no reason,” DeSantis said.
He pointed out that the National Committee for Religious Freedom, a nonprofit fighting for religious liberty, had their bank account terminated “because they wouldn’t reveal their donor list.” The GEO Group, a criminal rehabilitation provider based in Boca Raton in Florida, also had their “accounts terminated by both Bank of America and JP Morgan because they were being contracted out by ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to help enforce immigration laws.”
While these problems were first addressed by HB 3 last year, Florida’s legislature “believed that there was more that needed to be done,” according to DeSantis, “and so they passed HB 989.”
“This will enhance Florida’s protections for consumers against ESG activism in our financial system and protect them against a social credit system or discrimination based on their viewpoints,” DeSantis remarked.
“So if you own a firearm store, (or a) federal firearm license following the laws, if they just cut you off because they don’t like that business, you have recourse here in this new piece of legislation,” he continued.
The bill also allows the state to hold public deposits in credit unions, whereas previously Florida only allowed banks to hold public deposits.
“So this bill ends that artificial barrier, (and) opens up competition to other financial institutions, so our Florida credit unions will be able to hold up to 7% of all funds in the state treasury and 7% of all public deposits of any state university or community college,” DeSantis explained.
DeSantis pointed out that while Florida’s community banks “in many respects” represent “the core values of the state,” some of the big Wall Street banks “have a very different agenda.”
“So why would we give them a benefit over a credit union that’s based in Florida?” DeSantis said.