Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed two bills into law Tuesday to rename the "Gulf of Mexico" to "Gulf of America" on state agencies and in public school classrooms.
This makes Florida the first state to implement President Donald Trump's controversial executive order renaming the body of water that borders the U.S., Mexico and Cuba.
The Florida Senate passed a bill on April 9 with the goal of ensuring that all official state documents, maps and references reflect the designation "Gulf of America."
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The new law directs state agencies, district school boards and charter school governing boards to update, change or create materials to rename the "Gulf of Mexico" to the "Gulf of America."
According to the law, instructional materials and library media center collection materials acquired or adopted by district school boards or charter school boards on or after July 1, 2025, must reflect the renaming.
A separate bill signed by Gov. DeSantis makes the "Gulf of America" the official designation across government agencies, which will include changing all signage.
The laws go into effect on July 1, 2025.
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This story was originally published by Leilyn Torres with the Scripps News Group in Tampa.
