Florida Senate - 2020                              CS for SB 566
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Community Affairs; and Senator Bracy
       
       
       
       
       
       578-02233-20                                           2020566c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to prohibited discrimination;
    3         providing a short title; amending s. 420.516, F.S.;
    4         providing that it is unlawful for sponsors under the
    5         Florida Housing Finance Corporation Act to
    6         discriminate against any person or family because of
    7         traits historically associated with race; reordering
    8         and amending s. 760.02, F.S.; defining the terms
    9         “protective hairstyle” and “race”; amending s.
   10         1000.21, F.S.; defining the terms “protective
   11         hairstyle” and “race”; reenacting s. 420.5087(6)(i),
   12         F.S., relating to the State Apartment Incentive Loan
   13         Program, to incorporate the amendments made to s.
   14         420.516, F.S.; providing an effective date.
   15  
   16         WHEREAS, the history of our nation has been riddled with
   17  laws and societal norms that equated “blackness” and its
   18  associated physical traits as inferior to European physical
   19  features, and
   20         WHEREAS, this idea also permeates a societal understanding
   21  of professionalism that was, and still is, closely linked to
   22  European features and mannerisms and which entails that those
   23  who do not naturally conform to Eurocentric norms must alter
   24  their appearance to meet such norms and be considered
   25  professional, and
   26         WHEREAS, hair has been, and remains, a rampant source of
   27  racial discrimination that has caused serious economic and
   28  health ramifications, and
   29         WHEREAS, workplace and school dress code policies that
   30  prohibit natural hair, including afros, and certain hairstyles,
   31  such as braids, twists, and locks, have a disparate impact on
   32  black individuals as these policies are more likely to burden or
   33  punish black employees and students compared to other groups,
   34  and
   35         WHEREAS, federal courts accept that Title VII of the Civil
   36  Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, and
   37  therefore protects against discrimination against afros, and
   38         WHEREAS, afros are not the only natural presentation of
   39  black hair because black hair can also be naturally presented in
   40  styles such as braids, twists, and locks, NOW, THEREFORE,
   41  
   42  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   43  
   44         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Creating a
   45  Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act” or “CROWN Act.”
   46         Section 2. Section 420.516, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   47  read:
   48         420.516 Discrimination prohibited.—It is an unlawful
   49  practice for a sponsor, while bonds are outstanding for the
   50  purpose of funding or financing the sponsor’s project, to
   51  discriminate against any person or family because of race as
   52  defined in s. 760.02, color, religion, sex, national origin, or
   53  marital status.
   54         Section 3. Section 760.02, Florida Statutes, is reordered
   55  and amended to read:
   56         760.02 Definitions.—For the purposes of ss. 760.01-760.11,
   57  760.23, 760.25, and 509.092, the term:
   58         (7)(1) “Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992” means ss. 760.01
   59  760.11 and 509.092.
   60         (2) “Commission” means the Florida Commission on Human
   61  Relations created by s. 760.03.
   62         (3) “Commissioner” or “member” means a member of the
   63  commission.
   64         (4) “Discriminatory practice” means any practice made
   65  unlawful by the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992.
   66         (9)(5) “National origin” includes ancestry.
   67         (10)(6) “Person” includes an individual, association,
   68  corporation, joint apprenticeship committee, joint-stock
   69  company, labor union, legal representative, mutual company,
   70  partnership, receiver, trust, trustee in bankruptcy, or
   71  unincorporated organization; any other legal or commercial
   72  entity; the state; or any governmental entity or agency.
   73         (5)(7) “Employer” means any person employing 15 or more
   74  employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar
   75  weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and any agent
   76  of such a person.
   77         (6)(8) “Employment agency” means any person regularly
   78  undertaking, with or without compensation, to procure employees
   79  for an employer or to procure for employees opportunities to
   80  work for an employer, and includes an agent of such a person.
   81         (11) “Protective hairstyle” includes, but is not limited
   82  to, hairstyles such as braids, locks, or twists.
   83         (8)(9) “Labor organization” means any organization that
   84  which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of collective
   85  bargaining or of dealing with employers concerning grievances,
   86  terms or conditions of employment, or other mutual aid or
   87  protection in connection with employment.
   88         (1)(10) “Aggrieved person” means any person who files a
   89  complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations
   90  Commission.
   91         (13)“Race” is inclusive of traits historically associated
   92  with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture, hair
   93  type, and protective hairstyles.
   94         (12)(11) “Public accommodations” means places of public
   95  accommodation, lodgings, facilities principally engaged in
   96  selling food for consumption on the premises, gasoline stations,
   97  places of exhibition or entertainment, and other covered
   98  establishments. Each of the following establishments which
   99  serves the public is a place of public accommodation within the
  100  meaning of this section:
  101         (a) Any inn, hotel, motel, or other establishment that
  102  which provides lodging to transient guests, other than an
  103  establishment located within a building that which contains not
  104  more than four rooms for rent or hire and that which is actually
  105  occupied by the proprietor of such establishment as his or her
  106  residence.
  107         (b) Any restaurant, cafeteria, lunchroom, lunch counter,
  108  soda fountain, or other facility principally engaged in selling
  109  food for consumption on the premises, including, but not limited
  110  to, any such facility located on the premises of any retail
  111  establishment, or any gasoline station.
  112         (c) Any motion picture theater, theater, concert hall,
  113  sports arena, stadium, or other place of exhibition or
  114  entertainment.
  115         (d) Any establishment that which is physically located
  116  within the premises of any establishment otherwise covered by
  117  this subsection, or within the premises of which is physically
  118  located any such covered establishment, and that which holds
  119  itself out as serving patrons of such covered establishment.
  120         Section 4. Subsections (9) and (10) are added to section
  121  1000.21, Florida Statutes, to read:
  122         1000.21 Systemwide definitions.—As used in the Florida K-20
  123  Education Code:
  124         (9)“Protective hairstyle” includes, but is not limited to,
  125  hairstyles such as braids, locks, or twists.
  126         (10) “Race” is inclusive of traits historically associated
  127  with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture, hair
  128  type, and protective hairstyles.
  129         Section 5. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
  130  made by this act to section 420.516, Florida Statutes, in a
  131  reference thereto, paragraph (i) of subsection (6) of section
  132  420.5087, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read:
  133         420.5087 State Apartment Incentive Loan Program.—There is
  134  hereby created the State Apartment Incentive Loan Program for
  135  the purpose of providing first, second, or other subordinated
  136  mortgage loans or loan guarantees to sponsors, including for
  137  profit, nonprofit, and public entities, to provide housing
  138  affordable to very-low-income persons.
  139         (6) On all state apartment incentive loans, except loans
  140  made to housing communities for the elderly to provide for
  141  lifesafety, building preservation, health, sanitation, or
  142  security-related repairs or improvements, the following
  143  provisions shall apply:
  144         (i) The discrimination provisions of s. 420.516 shall apply
  145  to all loans.
  146         Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.