2024 Legislative Session

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have required the Florida Department of Health to take steps — including possibly preventing people from swimming in water off beaches — if water quality did not meet standards.

With the state preparing for a legal challenge from the tech industry, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a high-profile bill aimed at keeping children off social-media platforms.Lawmakers this month overwhelmingly passed the bill (HB 3), which House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, made a priority of the annual legislative session.

Florida’s agriculture industry hopes a newly passed bill that would limit local regulations on farmworker housing will bolster efforts to bring in more non-immigrant foreign workers.The bill (SB 1082), which lawmakers unanimously passed, would prevent cities and counties from taking steps to “inhibit” construction of housing for farmworkers on agricultural land. The bill has not been formally sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who can sign, veto or allow the legislation to become law without his signature.

When Florida lawmakers went home after ending the 2024 legislative session Friday, they left behind hundreds of bills that did not pass.

The 2024 legislative session ended Friday with an annual hanky-drop ceremony in the rotunda between the House and Senate chambers. Take a look at snapshots of 10 big issues from the session.

A controversial proposal designed to prevent homeless people from sleeping in public places while requiring local governments to address the issue is headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis.The Republican-controlled Senate on Tuesday voted 27-12 along party lines to pass the bill (HB 1365), which would bar cities and counties from allowing people to sleep at places such as public buildings and in public rights of way. The House approved the bill last week, and DeSantis has voiced support for it.

Florida’s 60-day legislative session is expected to end on time Friday after the release Tuesday of a $117.46 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year.House Speaker Paul Renner announced at 11:49 a.m. Tuesday that the spending plan was “on the desk,” after House and Senate budget leaders finished negotiations Monday.

The Senate voted 30-5 to approve the plan (HB 3), three days after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed an earlier version (HB 1). DeSantis and House Speaker Paul Renner, who has made a priority of the social-media issue, negotiated the revamped plan.Renner, R-Palm Coast, and other supporters of restrictions contend that social media harms children’s mental health and can lead to sexual predators communicating with minors. The bill seeks to prevent children under age 16 from opening social-media accounts — though a key change in the revised version would allow parents to give consent for 14- and 15-year-olds to have accounts.

Legislation backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that seeks to prevent homeless people from sleeping in public places is ready to go to the full Senate and House.The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee on Thursday voted 14-4 to back the Senate version of the bill (SB 1530), a short time after the House Health & Human Services Committee voted 17-3 to approve the House version (HB 1365).

Lee County's National Organization for Woman chapter is raising concerns over a piece of legislation sponsored by a Fort Myers Republican state representative.A House committee on Wednesday approved controversial HB 651 that would allow parents to file civil lawsuits seeking damages for the wrongful death of an “unborn child,” with critics of the bill saying it is too broad and could shrink the number of doctors who deliver babies in Florida.It now moves to the full House for approval.