Florida lawmakers

The bill is filed for consideration during the legislative session that will start Jan. 13.

Republicans are able to choose the next speaker because of their majority in the House, where they hold 85 of the 120 seats.

As of Monday, six proposals had been filed in the House for the 2026 session, collectively seeking just over $5.5 million.

Heading into the 2026 session, which will begin in January, one of the key topics will be Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push to cut or eliminate homestead property taxes.

The tax holiday starting Monday also will allow people to avoid paying sales taxes on camping and fishing equipment through the end of the year. It was part of a broad tax package (HB 7031) that lawmakers passed in June.

State Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, along with state Reps. Dr. Anna V. Eskamani, D-Orlando, Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, and Michele Rayner, D-St. Petersburg, said they were not allowed to tour the facility off Tamiami Trail in the Everglades when they made a July 3 surprise visit.

Even though a state-designated lab had been compiling data on human trafficking since it was established in 2019, the report released this month is the first of its kind.

The Legislature considers such "claim bills" each year because of the state’s sovereign immunity laws, which generally shield government agencies from liability for negligence. This year, nine were enacted.

The issue of lawmaker safety has drawn national attention after a gunman murdered former Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband early Saturday at their home and shot Democratic Sen. John Hoffman and his wife at their home

U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, Darren Soto, D-Orlando and María Elvira Salazar, Miami, said Thursday they introduced the Venezuela TPS Act of 2025 to extend Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants already in the U.S.

The Florida legislature offers people a way to find and contact their elected officials online. Here's a step-by-step guide to getting in touch and making your voice heard.

The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee voted 6-2 to approve a proposal that would put in the Florida Constitution eight-year term limits for county commissioners and school board members.