By Jim Saunders | News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Though they will have to return to Tallahassee to hammer out a budget, Florida lawmakers Friday night finished most of the business of the 2025 legislative session. Here’s a look at 10 big issues from the session --- some that passed, some that didn’t and some that remain up in the air.
— BALLOT INITIATIVES: After fierce political battles last year over proposed constitutional amendments on recreational marijuana and abortion, lawmakers passed a bill that will make it harder to put issues on the ballot and increase penalties for wrongdoing. Gov. Ron DeSantis quickly signed the bill, which focuses heavily on the petition-gathering process.
— BUDGET: After clashing for weeks, House and Senate leaders said Friday night they had reached agreement on a “framework” for a budget deal that would include $2.8 billion in tax cuts. But they had to extend the session to finish a budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Lawmakers are expected to return to the Capitol next week to negotiate details.
— CONDOS: With condominium residents getting hit with rising costs, lawmakers approved changes to condo-safety laws passed after the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside that killed 98 people. The bill, for example, would allow condo associations to use lines of credit or loans to satisfy financial-reserve obligations.
— FLUORIDE: Lawmakers passed a measure that would prevent local governments from continuing the decades-long practice of adding fluoride to water supplies to bolster dental health. Numerous cities and counties recently have debated whether to continue fluoridation. The ban was included in a broader bill that also restricts labeling of plant-based food products.
— HEMP: The House and Senate did not reach agreement on a plan to impose stricter regulations on the sale and production of euphoria-inducing hemp products as the use of the products has mushroomed. DeSantis last year vetoed a hemp bill, and lawmakers grappled this year with issues such as where products could be sold.
— HIGHER EDUCATION: The House sought to revamp the process of selecting college and university presidents, but the issue died in the Senate. The House, in part, wanted to repeal a 2022 law that provided exemptions to public-records and public-meetings laws for presidential searches. Supporters said the plan was about increased “transparency.”
— LAWSUITS: After years of debate about the issue, lawmakers approved repealing a 1990 law that prevents some people from pursuing “non-economic” damages in medical-malpractice lawsuits involving deaths of parents or adult children. A controversial House plan to revamp laws about attorney fees in other kinds of lawsuits did not pass the Senate.
— RURAL FLORIDA: When they return to Tallahassee to negotiate a budget, lawmakers also are expected to take up a priority of Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, known as the “rural renaissance” plan. The plan would take steps to boost health care, education, transportation and economic development in rural areas but has not passed the House.
— SCHOOLS: Lawmakers late Friday approved barring students in elementary and middle schools from using cell phones during the school day — and testing the idea in high schools. That would expand a current prohibition on using phones during “instructional” time. Lawmakers last week also backed away from a requirement for later daily start times in high schools.
— STATE PARKS: After a public outcry last year about a now-scuttled Department of Environmental Protection proposal, lawmakers passed a bill that seeks to prevent adding golf courses, resort-style lodges and such things as pickleball courts in state parks. The bill would maintain “conservation-based recreational uses” at state parks.
— News Service senior writer Dara Kam contributed to this report.