Florida Legislative Session

Florida's Legislature passed a controversial package of immigration measures late Tuesday that Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized as inadequate, but a procedural maneuver might mean the governor won't be able to veto it immediately until President Donald Trump has a chance to weigh in.The Senate passed its version of the bill 21-16. Six Republicans joined every Democrat in the chamber to oppose it. In the House, it passed 82-30.Ahead of the final vote in the Capitol, DeSantis derided the Legislature’s effort as “weak, weak, weak,” signaling a possible veto.

Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, and House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, said in a joint memo Friday that the Legislature will convene at 10:30 a.m. Monday in a special session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis. But Albritton and Perez, who have raised objections to the special session, did not detail how lawmakers will handle a series of issues that DeSantis wants them to address.

People would be allowed to kill bears on their property without permits if they feel threatened but would face more rules about reporting the incidents, under a proposal that received an initial approval Wednesday in the Florida Senate.While opponents called instead for better managing trash in rural counties where interactions between bears and humans have reportedly increased, the Republican-dominated Environment and Natural Resources Committee voted 5-2 along party lines to support the bill (SB 632).

As state lawmakers convene Florida’s 2024 legislative session Tuesday, Jan 9, we take a closer look at bills legislators will be considering over the course of the 60-day session tackling a broad range of issues including healthcare access, voting, firearm regulation, child labor laws, minors on social media, the property insurance crisis, and public education. We’ll hear from University of Central Florida Political Scientist Aubrey Jewett, Ph.D., and Opinion Editor of the Sun Sentinel Steve Bousquet.

One of the vetoed bills (HB 605) would have revised a law that prohibits adults from having criminal records expunged if they had records expunged as juveniles.

Books on LGBTQ+ topics are currently being restricted in schools across Florida due to proposed legislation. Educators share how access to similar books helped them understand their sexual identities growing up.

The Florida Legislature has tried for years to make changes to alimony laws. In the last decade, governors have vetoed alimony bills three times.

Florida lawmakers are moving ahead with changes to personal injury and damage suits. Some say the changes will address abuses by attornies; others claim the proposals would benefit insurance companies and hurt victims.

Florida Republicans have been trying for years to make local school board races partisan, but it may finally happen this time, if Florida voters agree. The move comes after a contentious election where Gov. Ron DeSantis targeted several local school board members as part of his ongoing effort to counter so-called “wokeness” in public schools.

It came at the start of the 2023 legislative session, in which the Republican supermajority is expected to rubber stamp much of DeSantis' agenda.