Proposed bill would require Florida colleges to name streets after Charlie Kirk 

Oct 8, 2025 4:58 pm
State Rep. Kevin Steele filed a bill that would require 40 of Florida's public colleges and universities to rename certain streets in honor of the late Charlie Kirk. Google Maps
State Rep. Kevin Steele filed a bill that would require 40 of Florida's public colleges and universities to rename certain streets in honor of the late Charlie Kirk.
Google Maps

A Republican state lawmaker recently filed a bill that would require all 40 of Florida’s public colleges and universities to rename certain streets in honor of Charlie Kirk.  

Kirk, a conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed on Sept. 10 while speaking at an event on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. 

State Rep. Kevin Steele, R-Dade City, filed House Bill 113 on Tuesday, which calls for “state university and Florida College System institution boards of trustees to redesignate specified roads or portions of roads to certain names relating to Charlie James Kirk within a specified time period.” 

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The bill further requires “state funds to be withheld for any university or institution” that fails to “redesignate a road or portion of a roadway within such time period.” 

“My goal with this bill is to continue his [Kirk] legacy through generations of students that will attend our schools and will be faced with many differing ideas,” Steele wrote in a Wednesday morning post on X. 

If the bill were to pass, the University of Florida would need to redesignate Stadium Road as Charlie James Kirk Road. 

Other public colleges in and around Gainesville that would need to make name changes to certain streets: 

  • Santa Fe College (Gainesville) – redesignating NW 83rd Street as Charlie James Kirk Street.  
  • Florida Gateway College (Lake City) – redesignating SE College Place as Charlie James Kirk Drive.  
  • College of Central Florida (Chiefland, Ocala, Lecanto) – redesignating SW 26th Street as Charlie James Kirk Street.  

A full list of state institutions included in the bill can be found here.  

The 2026 Florida legislative session is scheduled to start on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026.  

According to an article by The Hill, if HB 113 were to pass, it would be ready to go into law right away rather than the usual July 1 date for such Florida acts. Once implemented, a college “would have 90 days to rename the road before funding would be cut,” the article said.  

Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida. 

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  • Nick Anschultz

    Before joining Mainstreet Daily News to cover K-12 and higher education, Nick spent three and a half years at the Levy Citizen, where he served as the newspaper’s editor/reporter. In that role, Nick covered everything from government and education to sports and local events. He discovered his passion for journalism while attending the University of Florida, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism in May 2021. When he is not typing words on his keyboard, you can usually find Anschultz watching sports – especially his Florida Gators – fishing, or spending time with friends and family. Nick is also a Report for America corps member.

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raymond

This is just nuts. It’s a tragedy that Kirk was killed, but to put him on a pedestal and force him to be idolized is beyond the pall.

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