A Ron DeSantis signature on Monday ensures the state of Florida, and not local governments, will guide the process for the future Donald Trump Presidential Library.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jason Brodeur’s measure (SB 118), which is now law, paves the way for a building that is expected to be located in South Florida, near where the Trump family resides when not at the White House. The Associated Press says Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University are among the sites being explored for construction.
The bill, which also was sponsored by Rep. Alex Andrade in the House, reserves to the state “all regulatory authority over the establishment, maintenance, activities, and operations of presidential libraries.” It blocks “counties, municipalities, or other political subdivisions from enacting or enforcing any ordinance, resolution, rule, or other measure regarding presidential libraries unless authorized by federal law.”
Central to the legislative premise is the idea that such libraries are “unique national institutions designated to house, preserve, and make accessible the records of former presidents.”
The bill uses the definition of a presidential library adopted by Congress in 1986, during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, which encompasses “research facilities and museum facilities.” It enshrines them as part of the National Archives system.
The federal legislation applied to Presidents after Reagan, such as George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama; it took effect for chief executives inaugurated for their first terms after 1985, when Reagan began his second and final term as President.
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