WUFT | News and public media for north central Florida
2025 Florida legislative session recap: What passed, what failed?
By Kristin Moorehead, Rose Schnabel
May 6, 2025 at 8:11 AM EDT
The 2025 legislative session was tumultuous, and it’s not technically over yet. Until lawmakers and the Governor all agree on a budget, the session will continue. Below, find some of the bills WUFT reported on this session, and see what passed and what didn’t.
PASSED
Citrus County Sheriff
After his election, Citrus County Sheriff David Vincent butted up against a 20-year-old state law that prevented him from restructuring his command staff. Last week, his resulting legislative push passed the Florida Senate unanimously. It now goes to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk to sign into law.
The previous statute, passed in 2001, says a new Citrus County Sheriff is not allowed to drop a commander or captain by more than one rank or their pay by more than 6% in the first six months of the new sheriff’s term. The law only applies to Citrus County.
Vincent reached out to then-newly elected Florida Rep. JJ Grow, R-Inverness, who sponsored a bill that would repeal the 2001 statute.
The bill passed unanimously in the Florida House on April 16.
Land development
Developments that damage Florida’s wetlands offset their environmental impacts by buying credits from restoration projects known as mitigation banks.
New measures approved by the Florida legislature may make it easier for land managers to create such banks and for developers to buy credits.
The Florida Senate passed SB 492, authored by Sen. Stan McClain, R-Ocala, by a vote of 30 to 3 on May 2.
The bill allows for banks to release their credits earlier and for developers to buy credits from projects outside of their watershed for an additional cost.
While industry groups herald the measure as a way to reduce “permit backlogs”, some environmental advocates worry the changes go against mitigation’s goal of “no net loss” of wetlands.
Boating regulations
Florida boats may soon sport safety inspection decals and be protected from stops or boarding by officers without probable cause.
The bill also raised the bar for designating Springs Protection Zones like those in place at Ichetucknee, Silver and Weeki Wachee Springs. It states that boating activities must be the “predominant” cause of “significant” ecological harm to warrant such a zone.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was scheduled to consider designating a Springs Protection Zone at Silver Glen Springs later this month.
The commission removed the item from its agenda as the bill awaits the Governor’s signature, stating in a press release, “it would be premature and potentially inappropriate for the Commission to act on this matter at this time.”
FAILED
Rapid rail
Despite touting its bipartisan support, Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson’s bill to make train transportation in Florida easier did not make it out of committee this legislative session.
The bill, which was filed in February, called for Florida to join a coalition of southern states advocating for passenger rail known as the Southern Rail Commission.
After a favorable finding from the Economic Infrastructure Subcommittee, the bill was passed to the Commerce Committee on April 1 where it sat for the remainder of the session.
Hinson said she hopes to file the bill again next session, when she’ll schedule meetings with the committee chairs ahead of time to explain the bill.
“ I probably want this done more than anything else, because I don't see anyone else with the vision,” she said. “ I think I'm gonna take a more diplomatic route than I have before. I've just been going through protocol. Going through protocol isn't working. I'm going to try real diplomacy this time.”
Hinson’s term ends in 2026.
Community reinvestment agencies
A bill meant to phase out programs designed to help disenfranchised communities did not pass the Florida legislature this year.
SB 1242, sponsored by Sen. Stan McClain, R-Ocala, went through multiple amendments and revisions in both chambers before making it to the Senate floor on the last day of the session. However, it was deferred and never resumed.
Motor vehicle safety
A bill sponsored by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, would have made identifying drivers responsible for hit-and-run accidents easier for law enforcement. The bill didn’t make it out of its third committee.
Dubbed the Lilly Glaubach Act, it paid homage to the 13-year-old girl who was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Gruters’ district in 2022.
Defamatory content
While a Senate panel gave initial approval to a proposal to change the state’s defamation laws, the bill ultimately died in committee this session.
The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, sought to require newspapers and broadcast stations to remove false and defamatory articles and broadcasts from their websites after receiving notice that the stories aren’t true.
The Senate version of the bill made it through two committees before failing. The House version didn’t make it past its first full committee.
Products Liability Actions Under the Florida Pesticide Law
Legislation that would shield pesticide manufacturers from certain health-related lawsuits died in a Florida House subcommittee in April.
A similar bill, HB 347, failed last legislative session.
Both bills aimed to reduce “failure to warn” liabilities: cases in which pesticide users claim their injury or illness, most commonly cancer, stemmed from a company’s lack of transparency about its products’ health impacts.
Plaintiffs nationwide have brought more than 170,000 such lawsuits against Bayer, manufacturer of the widely-used agricultural weedkiller Roundup.
Germany-based Bayer founded a media campaign alongside industry partners to advocate for the bill in Florida and others like it in eleven states.
Those bills have died in seven other states, are pending in two and passed in two: Georgia and North Dakota. The latter’s Governor Kelly Armstrong signed the bill into law last month.
Packaging preemption
A bill preempting local regulations on plastic, paper and cloth packaging died in the House despite a push by the Senate on Friday.
The bill would’ve repealed bans in roughly 19 Florida municipalities, including Miami Beach and Seminole County, and prevented new regulations.
Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, pushed to add the preemption language to Waste Incineration Bill HB 1609 after his original bill, SB 1822, was postponed on the Senate floor.
Amendments allowing for bans in state parks and of polystyrene bounced between the Senate and House for much of the legislature’s final week, but Rep. Meg Weinberger, R-Palm Beach Gardens refused to accept the changes.
—
For more stories about the 2025 legislative session, check out these from Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.
PASSED - Abandoned boats
Across Florida, there are nearly 900 derelict vessels dating back to 2020, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Now, the Legislature is tackling the problem. Lawmakers passed a bill that would punish owners who abandon derelict vessels and make them responsible for paying to remove them. The bill awaits the signature of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
FAILED - Backyard swimming safety
New legislation proposed this year by state Rep. Johanna López, D-Orlando, and state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, would have required a title company, inspector or underwriter for the mortgage company, to report a violation of pool safety laws to law enforcement, presumably when the home is being sold.
The House bill died in a subcommittee without a hearing or vote. The Senate version of the bill was “temporarily postponed” in March and never resurfaced.
FAILED - Campaign funded babysitters
Florida’s Legislature has killed efforts that would have allowed political candidates in the state to pay for babysitters and other child care expenses using money from campaign donors.
Lawmakers in committee hearings voted unanimously for the Senate bill even as they raised questions about whether it needed tighter guardrails on such spending. The bills didn’t include limits on such spending or restrict expenses to political candidates who weren’t millionaires.
The bills would have allowed candidates in Florida to use campaign donations for child care when candidates were canvassing, meeting with donors and future constituents, or attending political debates. Currently in Florida, it is illegal to use campaign donations to defray normal living expenses for the candidate and the candidate’s family.
—
For more reporting from our partner station WUSF in Tampa, read these from Your Florida.
PASSED - School cell phone ban
The Legislature passed a bill, HB 1105, that bans "wireless communications devices" throughout the entire school day for elementary and middle schoolers.
That builds on a 2023 law that banned phones during class time across public schools.
The class time-only limitation would remain for high schoolers, though a pilot program for a ban would be launched in six school districts.
FAILED - Presidential search transparency bill
Ignoring a veto threat from Gov. Ron DeSantis, the House passed a bill that would’ve limited his sway in state university and college presidential searches.
The legislation said officials like the governor can’t talk with higher education leadership about a presidential position vacancy or an anticipated vacancy.
It would have also repealed a shield placed on public higher education presidential search records that lawmakers created in 2022. The hidden information includes the names of candidates who weren’t finalists.
The Senate version of the legislation went less far. It never ultimately passed.
FAILED - Less strict gun laws
At the start of the legislative session, Gov. Ron DeSantis called for the Legislature to allow the open carry of firearms in Florida.
He also wanted lawmakers to repeal a red flag law — which allows courts to temporarily take away guns from people deemed a threat — as well as lower the shotgun and rifle buying-age from 21 to 18.
The Florida Legislature passed the red flag law and raised the purchasing age following the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.
Lawmakers in both chambers didn’t show an appetite for open carry or red flag legislation. The House passed a bill, HB 759, lowering the long gun-buying age. The Senate didn’t move that forward.
FAILED - Mockingbird stays supreme
The northern mockingbird is Florida's state bird — still.
There have been frequent attempts to change that over the years. Legislation this session that would've made the American flamingo the state bird and the Florida scrub-jay the state songbird never made it out of the committee process this year.
PASSED
Citrus County Sheriff
After his election, Citrus County Sheriff David Vincent butted up against a 20-year-old state law that prevented him from restructuring his command staff. Last week, his resulting legislative push passed the Florida Senate unanimously. It now goes to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk to sign into law.
The previous statute, passed in 2001, says a new Citrus County Sheriff is not allowed to drop a commander or captain by more than one rank or their pay by more than 6% in the first six months of the new sheriff’s term. The law only applies to Citrus County.
Vincent reached out to then-newly elected Florida Rep. JJ Grow, R-Inverness, who sponsored a bill that would repeal the 2001 statute.
The bill passed unanimously in the Florida House on April 16.
Land development
Developments that damage Florida’s wetlands offset their environmental impacts by buying credits from restoration projects known as mitigation banks.
New measures approved by the Florida legislature may make it easier for land managers to create such banks and for developers to buy credits.
The Florida Senate passed SB 492, authored by Sen. Stan McClain, R-Ocala, by a vote of 30 to 3 on May 2.
The bill allows for banks to release their credits earlier and for developers to buy credits from projects outside of their watershed for an additional cost.
While industry groups herald the measure as a way to reduce “permit backlogs”, some environmental advocates worry the changes go against mitigation’s goal of “no net loss” of wetlands.
Boating regulations
Florida boats may soon sport safety inspection decals and be protected from stops or boarding by officers without probable cause.
The bill also raised the bar for designating Springs Protection Zones like those in place at Ichetucknee, Silver and Weeki Wachee Springs. It states that boating activities must be the “predominant” cause of “significant” ecological harm to warrant such a zone.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was scheduled to consider designating a Springs Protection Zone at Silver Glen Springs later this month.
The commission removed the item from its agenda as the bill awaits the Governor’s signature, stating in a press release, “it would be premature and potentially inappropriate for the Commission to act on this matter at this time.”
FAILED
Rapid rail
Despite touting its bipartisan support, Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson’s bill to make train transportation in Florida easier did not make it out of committee this legislative session.
The bill, which was filed in February, called for Florida to join a coalition of southern states advocating for passenger rail known as the Southern Rail Commission.
After a favorable finding from the Economic Infrastructure Subcommittee, the bill was passed to the Commerce Committee on April 1 where it sat for the remainder of the session.
Hinson said she hopes to file the bill again next session, when she’ll schedule meetings with the committee chairs ahead of time to explain the bill.
“ I probably want this done more than anything else, because I don't see anyone else with the vision,” she said. “ I think I'm gonna take a more diplomatic route than I have before. I've just been going through protocol. Going through protocol isn't working. I'm going to try real diplomacy this time.”
Hinson’s term ends in 2026.
Community reinvestment agencies
A bill meant to phase out programs designed to help disenfranchised communities did not pass the Florida legislature this year.
SB 1242, sponsored by Sen. Stan McClain, R-Ocala, went through multiple amendments and revisions in both chambers before making it to the Senate floor on the last day of the session. However, it was deferred and never resumed.
Motor vehicle safety
A bill sponsored by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, would have made identifying drivers responsible for hit-and-run accidents easier for law enforcement. The bill didn’t make it out of its third committee.
Dubbed the Lilly Glaubach Act, it paid homage to the 13-year-old girl who was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Gruters’ district in 2022.
Defamatory content
While a Senate panel gave initial approval to a proposal to change the state’s defamation laws, the bill ultimately died in committee this session.
The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, sought to require newspapers and broadcast stations to remove false and defamatory articles and broadcasts from their websites after receiving notice that the stories aren’t true.
The Senate version of the bill made it through two committees before failing. The House version didn’t make it past its first full committee.
Products Liability Actions Under the Florida Pesticide Law
Legislation that would shield pesticide manufacturers from certain health-related lawsuits died in a Florida House subcommittee in April.
A similar bill, HB 347, failed last legislative session.
Both bills aimed to reduce “failure to warn” liabilities: cases in which pesticide users claim their injury or illness, most commonly cancer, stemmed from a company’s lack of transparency about its products’ health impacts.
Plaintiffs nationwide have brought more than 170,000 such lawsuits against Bayer, manufacturer of the widely-used agricultural weedkiller Roundup.
Germany-based Bayer founded a media campaign alongside industry partners to advocate for the bill in Florida and others like it in eleven states.
Those bills have died in seven other states, are pending in two and passed in two: Georgia and North Dakota. The latter’s Governor Kelly Armstrong signed the bill into law last month.
Packaging preemption
A bill preempting local regulations on plastic, paper and cloth packaging died in the House despite a push by the Senate on Friday.
The bill would’ve repealed bans in roughly 19 Florida municipalities, including Miami Beach and Seminole County, and prevented new regulations.
Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, pushed to add the preemption language to Waste Incineration Bill HB 1609 after his original bill, SB 1822, was postponed on the Senate floor.
Amendments allowing for bans in state parks and of polystyrene bounced between the Senate and House for much of the legislature’s final week, but Rep. Meg Weinberger, R-Palm Beach Gardens refused to accept the changes.
—
For more stories about the 2025 legislative session, check out these from Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.
PASSED - Abandoned boats
Across Florida, there are nearly 900 derelict vessels dating back to 2020, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Now, the Legislature is tackling the problem. Lawmakers passed a bill that would punish owners who abandon derelict vessels and make them responsible for paying to remove them. The bill awaits the signature of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
FAILED - Backyard swimming safety
New legislation proposed this year by state Rep. Johanna López, D-Orlando, and state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, would have required a title company, inspector or underwriter for the mortgage company, to report a violation of pool safety laws to law enforcement, presumably when the home is being sold.
The House bill died in a subcommittee without a hearing or vote. The Senate version of the bill was “temporarily postponed” in March and never resurfaced.
FAILED - Campaign funded babysitters
Florida’s Legislature has killed efforts that would have allowed political candidates in the state to pay for babysitters and other child care expenses using money from campaign donors.
Lawmakers in committee hearings voted unanimously for the Senate bill even as they raised questions about whether it needed tighter guardrails on such spending. The bills didn’t include limits on such spending or restrict expenses to political candidates who weren’t millionaires.
The bills would have allowed candidates in Florida to use campaign donations for child care when candidates were canvassing, meeting with donors and future constituents, or attending political debates. Currently in Florida, it is illegal to use campaign donations to defray normal living expenses for the candidate and the candidate’s family.
—
For more reporting from our partner station WUSF in Tampa, read these from Your Florida.
PASSED - School cell phone ban
The Legislature passed a bill, HB 1105, that bans "wireless communications devices" throughout the entire school day for elementary and middle schoolers.
That builds on a 2023 law that banned phones during class time across public schools.
The class time-only limitation would remain for high schoolers, though a pilot program for a ban would be launched in six school districts.
FAILED - Presidential search transparency bill
Ignoring a veto threat from Gov. Ron DeSantis, the House passed a bill that would’ve limited his sway in state university and college presidential searches.
The legislation said officials like the governor can’t talk with higher education leadership about a presidential position vacancy or an anticipated vacancy.
It would have also repealed a shield placed on public higher education presidential search records that lawmakers created in 2022. The hidden information includes the names of candidates who weren’t finalists.
The Senate version of the legislation went less far. It never ultimately passed.
FAILED - Less strict gun laws
At the start of the legislative session, Gov. Ron DeSantis called for the Legislature to allow the open carry of firearms in Florida.
He also wanted lawmakers to repeal a red flag law — which allows courts to temporarily take away guns from people deemed a threat — as well as lower the shotgun and rifle buying-age from 21 to 18.
The Florida Legislature passed the red flag law and raised the purchasing age following the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.
Lawmakers in both chambers didn’t show an appetite for open carry or red flag legislation. The House passed a bill, HB 759, lowering the long gun-buying age. The Senate didn’t move that forward.
FAILED - Mockingbird stays supreme
The northern mockingbird is Florida's state bird — still.
There have been frequent attempts to change that over the years. Legislation this session that would've made the American flamingo the state bird and the Florida scrub-jay the state songbird never made it out of the committee process this year.