Bill Tracking & Summaries Here

Florida’s lawmakers returned to the capital March 4^th to begin work on the 2025 legislative session. The kick-off of this Session comes weeks after a rare public dispute between GOP legislators and DeSantis which lead to multiple special sessions to reach accord on a comprehensive bill to support President Trump’s executive orders on illegal immigration.

In the opening of the 60-day legislative session, House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton laid out an ambitious agenda focused on creating a state budget likely to exceed $115 billion. Speaker Perez stated in his opening day speech his primary goal is to streamline government spending and improve accountability amid expectations of reduced federal funding. He emphasized the need for efficiency in government operations and fiscal responsibility, saying that every Floridian expects taxpayer dollars to be spent wisely.

Senate President Ben Albritton is advocating for what he calls the “Rural Renaissance,” which includes “three hundred million dollars in total spending, about $197 million of that new money going towards grants for rural farmers, rural counties, improvements to rural roads, and affordable housing initiatives in rural counties.” Albritton also highlighted various legislative priorities, including initiatives to protect the citrus industry, increase Everglades restoration efforts, and improve child welfare services. He also supports elevating state information technology to the state Cabinet level to ensure that top talent is available to counter potential technological threats.

Lawmakers have been busy hearing bills in committee meetings and gearing up for budget hearings. The state’s economist released revenue projections for the beginning of the year and legislators can expect to have a little more revenue than expected, due to stronger than anticipated sales tax collections, to craft their budget last year. The state economist however did note that significant uncertainty looms for the state due to anticipated impacts from sweeping changes and proposed cuts at the federal level. Crafting the state budget is the only legislation that must be passed during the Session.

While energy is not a focus for either of the presiding officers there are several bills of interest that have been filed that seek to address solar farms on agriculture lands and the decommissioning of solar farms (SB 1304 by Bradley /HB 1595 by Koster) and legislation that would streamline the permitting process to allow for the use of Solar App (SB 1194 by Calatayud /HB 1071 by Benarroch).

Bill Tracking & Summaries Here