Confederate monuments have come down in Orlando, Tampa and most recently Jacksonville as part of a nationwide reckoning with public memorials that commemorate the Confederacy. But if a bill becomes law next year, local leaders could be fined and even booted from office if they remove those monuments. State Rep. Dean Black, R-Jacksonville, is pushing the measure to protect monuments, including memorials to the Confederacy, and punish local officials who remove them. He said his bill is retroactive and seeks to restore monuments removed by local governments after Jan. 1, 2017. “It is history, an…
