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.