Florida Rep. Proposes Bill to Rename College Roads After Charlie Kirk

Florida state Rep. Kevin Steele has introduced a bill that would require colleges to rename roads after conservative activist Charlie Kirk or face financial penalties. The legislation, HB 113, aims to honor Kirk’s legacy by renaming roads at Florida’s 40 public institutions, with non-compliance resulting in withheld state funds. The bill has real teeth since it stipulates that state funds should be withheld from schools that fail to comply. ‘State funds shall be withheld from any state university or Florida College System institution whose board of trustees fails to redesignate the roadway or portion of a roadway listed in subsections (1) and (2), respectively, within 90 days after the effective date of this act,’ the text of the proposal states. Steele noted in a post on X, ‘I’m honored to file HB 113, which renames a street at each of the 40 public institutions in Florida to Charlie James Kirk.’ Some examples from within the text of the proposal include, ‘New College of Florida shall redesignate College Drive as Charlie James Kirk Drive,’ ‘The University of Florida shall redesignate Stadium Road as Charlie James Kirk Road’ and ‘Hillsborough College shall redesignate West Tampa Bay Boulevard from Air Cargo Road to North Dale Mabry as Charlie James Kirk Drive.’ The Lake County board of commissioners has already designated a stretch of road as Charlie Kirk Memorial Highway. ‘Charlie Kirk Memorial Highway has been approved by the Lake County Commission. The road is a section of Wellness Way from US 27 to the Orange County line. Lake County’s dedication of the highway represents the first county to memorialize Kirk in the aftermath of his assassination,’ Sunshine State Gov. Ron DeSantis noted in a post on X.