Gulf of America bills breeze through port of call in the House

Measures that would see Florida adopt the “Gulf of America” name in state law and teaching materials both floated in the House State Affairs Committee.

The legislation would change 92 statutory references in Florida law to refer to the body of water along Florida’s west coast as the new name (HB 575) and put “Gulf of America” in K-12 instructional materials (HB 549). The bill, sponsored by Rep. Juan Porras and Rep. Tyler Sirois, respectively, looks to align state standards with federal guidelines promulgated by the Donald Trump administration.

Democrats raised questions about both bills, and proposed changes to one ahead of the inevitable advancement of the legislation.

Rep. Anna Eskamani filed a joke amendment to change various place names in Sirois’ bill to Star Wars locations, with the “Gulf of Endor” standing in for the Gulf of America. She withdrew the amendment after some discussion.

Rep. Dotie Joseph proposed adopting “Chactemal” as the name of the Gulf of America, in tribute to the Mayans.

Focusing on Porras’ bill, Rep. Angie Nixon worried that publishers would have to pay to create special “Florida editions” of textbooks. She then said the proposal was part of a “history of erasure” and “a form of institutionalized racism.”

Porras subsequently rejected contentions that the “Gulf of America” was racist and erased history as part of his close, though he did put the bill in the context of “American Exceptionalism” and the effort to “Make the Gulf Great Again.”

Legislators also debated name changes across the world, including Denali-Mt. McKinley, Burma-Myanmar and Rhodesia-Zimbabwe, ahead of the final vote on the Porras measure.

Porras’ bill has one committee stop ahead, while the next stop for Sirois’ measure is the House floor.

The bills are also moving in the Senate. Sen. Nick DiCeglie’s companion for Sirois bill has one committee stop ahead. Sen. Joe Gruters’ companion for Porras’ bill has two stops ahead.

Tallahassee Republicans have quickly embraced the new name for the body of water that was called the Gulf of Mexico without controversy until earlier this year.

Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson is backing the President’s preference regarding government documents, pushing for changes on behalf of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Simpson’s goal is to rename the body of water as the Gulf of America “as quickly as possible … in all department administrative rules, forms, maps, and resources.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis was the first state official to use the new name in an executive order declaring a State of Emergency over a Winter storm last month. That order said the inclement weather was headed to Florida across the “Gulf of America.”

The declaration came the same day Trump made the name change official in his own executive order.

While there’s more controversy outside Tallahassee (The Associated Press and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum haven’t accepted the Gulf of America designation), that’s not germane to the legislative process in the Sunshine State.

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