Florida might get its own counterintelligence and counterterrorism unit.
A bill, HB 945, creating one has already passed two of its four assigned House committees.
Hillsborough Republican Rep. Danny Alvarez, who sponsored the bill, said it’s necessary as the state’s population grows.
“A lot of people tell me, ‘Why don't we depend on the feds?’ I offer you 9/11; I offer you New Orleans,” Alvarez said. “Florida has a responsibility to look out for ourselves.”
The primary goal, according to the bill language, would be to “conduct statewide counterintelligence and counterterrorism activities to detect, identify, neutralize, and exploit adversary intelligence entities, international and domestic terrorists, insider threats, corporate threats, and other foreign adversaries to protect this state and the United States of America.”
The unit would be placed within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As a first step, a 10-person leadership team would need to be in place by mid-2027.
The bill says it should be fully staffed statewide no later than Dec. 30, 2033.
It’s getting bipartisan support, with only one Democratic "no" vote in the two House committees it's passed so far.
The Senate version, SB 1712, hasn’t moved yet.
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This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
