Location: State of Florida — Division of Arts and Culture, Florida Department of State, Tallahassee
Excerpt: Formal inquiry to Secretary of State Cord Byrd identifying a structural contradiction embedded in SB 1134: the Legislature prohibited counties and municipalities from funding ethnicity-referenced programming while the Florida Department of State simultaneously operates grant programs — Folklife, Specific Cultural Projects, General Program Support, Visit Florida — that fund exactly that. Poses three direct questions about the Department’s intent to reconcile its grant portfolio with SB 1134’s policy framework. Frames the two-tier problem: a Miami official faces misfeasance charges for a $5,000 fee waiver while the state writes a $6,000 check to the same event.
Comments: Not a demand letter in the traditional sense — framed as a public inquiry. No PRR attached. Strategic purpose is to put the DOS on record and surface the two-tier hypocrisy for press and litigation use. CC’d Florida Attorney General’s Office. Excellent CLE and editorial material on the legislative drafting failure.
