Florida's legislative session came to a close on Friday, March 13. But it's not quite done yet — lawmakers did not complete the one constitutionally required responsibility: passing a budget.
Leaders say lawmakers will return for a budget-focused special session in mid-April, alongside a special session for possible redistricting later in the month.
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During the 60-day session, lawmakers introduced about 1,900 bills and passed fewer than 300. Members of the House and Senate were unable to see eye to eye on multiple issues, with some even calling the session contentious.
Your Florida talked with people across the state to find out how they think it went.
The budget
Karen Smoke, who lives in Arcadia, said as with the budget, lawmakers were "all talk and no action."
"Legislature can be either reactive and try to fix problems after they arise, or they can be proactive and spot potential problems and then create solutions," she said. "But this year, they just seem to be dysfunctional."
Smoke is an avid bicyclist. Since safety is a top concern for her, she was hoping to see more regulations for drivers, like the passage of the "hands-free" bill that would have made holding a cell phone while driving illegal — but it failed.
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And while e-bike riders have made her cycling a little more difficult lately due to some reckless drivers, she is glad the bill targeting e-bike safety passed. Not so much for the riders, but for the task force that will look into safety and licensing requirements.
Meanwhile, Tampa resident Monica White said she was frustrated state legislators did not finish the budget again. Based on lawmakers' performance, she gave them a grade of C or D.
"It just seems to me, and I'm sure many others, like they could have gotten this organized a little better, so they would have had something in place by now," she said.
Adding that needing to finish the budget wasn't a surprise, since it's written into the state constitution.
White lives on a fixed income. She has been struggling with high property taxes, so she is hopeful lawmakers will get something on the November ballot that could help her.
But she was not as thrilled about some of the bills lawmakers did pass.
Culture wars
The Legislature approved the "Official Actions of Local Governments" bill, which prohibits cities and counties from funding, carrying out, or promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. If local officials violate the law, they can be removed from office.
Another bill, "Systems of Law and Terrorist Organizations," gives the governor and his cabinet more power to designate groups as domestic terrorist organizations.
White said bills like these create more hostility and questioned what impact they will have on communities if people are scared to donate to certain organizations for fear of retribution.
Sandra Johnson lives in Bradenton. She's retired now, but spent many years working in human resources.
"I believe in diversity and inclusion. I believe that anytime you exclude human beings, you're being divisive and critical (of) what someone else's thinking is," she said. "And I think (the) government needs to stay out of that."
Affordability
But affordability was top of mind for Johnson this year. She's frustrated with lawmakers' inaction.
“I don't see them doing anything about this: rising taxes, rising association dues for condominiums, rising insurance costs, monitoring and keeping condominiums in line so that the homeowners have more rights," Johnson said.
"So no, I don't see that my day-to-day life is any better because of my government,” she added.
And she wasn't alone. Nearly every person Your Florida spoke to mentioned the high cost of living as a top concern — from housing and insurance to rising electricity costs.
Like Cindy Tippie in St. Petersburg, who works in prison reform and land development. She wants to see more transparency between the government and other agencies or companies.
"I don't have rich people problems. I'm the bitch that gets up every day and goes to work whether I want to or not, whether I'm sick or whether I'm not," she said. "And my Florida Power and Light Bill keeps going up, but yet, I keep seeing them donate big PAC money."
Environment
Tippie, along with many other respondents, has concerns about the havoc overdevelopment is wreaking on Florida's wild spaces.
"Florida is being destroyed by overdevelopment. Our water isn't even flowing anymore," she said. "So, where is old Florida going? It's going to all concrete."
Quite a few environmental bills crossed lawmakers' desks this session — from regulating water pollution to protecting endangered marine wildlife.
But Kim Heise, a watercolor artist in Broward County, said a majority of the bills were not good.
“There's been, like a biblical amount of anti-environmental bills that were filed this session," she said. "More than usual, although it's not unusual for there to be bad environmental bills in Florida.”
She's especially grateful the "Blue Ribbon Projects" bill, SB 354, didn't pass. It would have created a fast-track approval process for large developments (more than 10,000 acres).
"We had to call (legislators) and put out calls to action. And they got hundreds of calls and emails about this bill," Heise said. "And it stinks that we have to work this hard for our legislature to do what they're supposed to do. When they're the ones that we've hired to do that, and they're supposed to know what they're doing."
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Heise said she's glad most of the bills of concern did not pass. But added lawmakers should not be surprised to see Floridians speak out against overdevelopment, especially considering the public pushback against building hotels and golf courses in state parks last year.
Join the conversation
Your Florida extended the question to our social media channels as well.
On Threads, one social media user said it's exhausting that citizens and organizations have to sue the government for not doing what we voted for them to do: things like addressing high insurance rates and property taxes, and "removing said property taxes without a plan to replace that money."
Another user wrote, "The last few years have been especially bad. Numerous bills were passed that take away local control over development."
We'd love to know how you think this session went, and if lawmakers addressed issues that are important to you.
Want to join the conversation or share your story? Email Meghan at bowman4@wusf.org.
If you have any questions about state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team by clicking here.
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
