Florida state Rep. Kevin Steele (R) filed a bill Tuesday that threatens state funding to public universities and colleges if they do not rename specific roads after slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The bill points to specific roads at campuses Steele wants colleges to rename after Kirk, who was assassinated last month while speaking on a college campus in Utah.
If a campus does not comply, the bill says state funding will be withheld from the institution.
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If passed, the bill would be set to go into law immediately instead of the typical July 1 date put most such Florida measures. Once the law goes into effect, a university would have 90 days to rename the road before funding would be cut.
The bill is “clearly designed to illicit intense reactions from all sides but it does reinforce the importance of getting involved in your local & state government,” said Democratic State Rep. Anna Eskamani.
Bills across the country have been introduced to rename things or create memorials in honor of Kirk, whose alleged killer is now in custody and facing seven charges.
In Oklahoma, a lawmaker filed a bill for a Kirk memorial to be created on all state campuses.
