Previewing Florida’s 2023 State Legislative Session
Bottom Line: The state legislature has assembled in Tallahassee and Governor DeSantis is set to deliver the State of the State address this morning. Today kicks off Florida’s annual 60-day fast and furious legislative session. And at the onset, 1683 Bills have been filed between the two chambers but in reality, only approximately 200 of them are likely to see their way to Governor DeSantis’ desk to be signed into law. The most significant difference this year as the legislature debates and votes, will be processes. Republicans now hold a super majority, or two-thirds majority of the state legislature – this will limit the ability for Democrats to engage in debate on bills under consideration and will allow the Republican agenda to more quickly work its way through the legislature. There are also new leaders in the state legislature in House Speaker Paul Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo.
Given the short length of the session, a key to success in the legislative session are for bills to have companions in both chambers. Bills which lack companions in each chamber often aren’t given consideration before committees, which is the first step in the legislative process. Speaking of committees, based on what’s already occurred in committees in the state legislature in advance of today’s kickoff – we have an idea of several high-profile issues which are likely to be quick movers as debate gets underway. Here are the top five on my radar as the session begins:
- Universal School Choice (School vouchers for all parents)
- Illegal Immigration (Mandatory E-Verify)
- Affordable Housing (State funded mixed-use developments)
- Permanent Sales tax exemptions (Baby & toddler items, OTC pet meds & gas stoves)
- Constitutional Carry (permitless carrying of firearms)
I’ve pegged those five issues as the top issues as they have the potential to impact most Floridians based on what final policy may be. Notably, they’re all issues which are championed for reform by Governor DeSantis who holds enormous influence in driving the legislative session – save the specific Universal School Choice bill. He’s not issued an opinion on the version which has been proposed by the legislature and it wasn’t in his budget proposal. On that note, DeSantis’ Framework for Freedom budget, which details all of the governor’s priorities, is likely to be largely incorporated into what the legislature will advance to his desk as the session closes on May 5th.