Restrictions on massive data centers and legislation to bolster the state’s stance against “foreign countries of concern” were among 10 bills Gov. Ron DeSantis received from the Legislature on Wednesday.
The measure concerning foreign governments (HB 905) also spells out support for “a free and independent Cuba.” The proposal states that if the federal government changes Cuba's diplomatic status, the governor can issue a temporary executive order suspending restrictions on business with the island nation 90 miles south of the state.
Last month, DeSantis expressed a vision that those who fled the island nation under its communist government will return to help build up business and the government.
“It would not take much,” DeSantis said while at Palm Beach Atlantic University’s LeMieux Center for Public Policy on March 25. “If you just had a halfway legitimate government that wasn't 100 percent corrupt and actually respected people's rights and the rule of law, I think you could do better than that.”
READ MORE: Scrapped data center in Okeechobee County mirrors rising opposition to data centers in South Florida
The bill also restricts government contracts with nations listed by Florida as foreign countries of concern --- which includes China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria.
The data center proposal (SB 484) was the only part of DeSantis’ artificial intelligence priorities that survived the regular session and a special session last week.
The bill on his desk, in part, requires the Florida Public Service Commission, which regulates electric utilities, to develop “tariffs” and service requirements to “reasonably ensure that each large load customer bears its own full cost of service and that such cost is not shifted to the general body of ratepayers.”
While in Jacksonville on April 23, DeSantis acknowledged the measure may not have been “as strong as I had hoped. It did get watered down a little bit. But it will prevent any increase in power cost from being passed on to consumers.”
The bill also allows local governments to keep confidential tech company plans for the centers for up to 12-months.
The House, meanwhile, blocked DeSantis’ call for an “artificial intelligence bill of rights,” which House leadership contends needs to be handled at the federal level.
DeSantis has until May 21 to act on the bills.
