Ron Desantis Plans to Revive Florida's State Militia

[Draggingtree]

Mises Institute

Ron Desantis Plans to Revive Florida's State Militia

José Niño

Contrary to the conventional wisdom held by talking heads, there is no going back to the days of “decency” and “respectability” politics. The Tweedledee and Tweedledum of political parties discussing mundane issues is becoming an afterthought in the era of populism.

To be sure, we’re not going to witness a drastic rollback of government intrusions at the federal level, much less the abolition of the litany of unconstitutional laws and regulations emanating from DC any time soon. However, there is plenty of potential for states to poke Washington in the eye by nullifying its laws and pursuing their own policy agendas.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis recently got the decentralist memo when he announced on December 2, 2021, a new funding proposal for Florida’s National Guard and a plan that would resurrect the Florida State Guard, a state defense force that was disbanded in 1947.

This state defense force is expected to assist the National Guard in hurricanes, natural disasters, and other emergencies taking place specifically in Florida. DeSantis stressed that the Florida State Guard would “not be encumbered by the federal government.” In effect, the Florida State Guard would only respond to the governor. Furthermore, it would not be deployed for federal missions and would not receive federal dollars.