Perspectives

Becker’s End of Session Spotlight Welcome to Becker’s End of Session Spotlight! As your trusted lobbyists we are proud to provide you with the latest developments in politics and policy in Tallahassee. As the 2024 Legislative Session comes to a close, here is what happened in Tallahassee during Week 9 (March 4 – March 8). Headliners […]

50th Day Rule and Budget Conferences Tuesday, February 26, marked the 50th day of the 2024 Legislative Session.  With 1,954 bills filed, 30 bills have passed and are awaiting presentation to the Governor.  Currently, two bills have been presented to the Governor and six total bills have been signed into law.  Tuesday, February 26, also […]

“Where Are We in the Process?” As the legislative session approaches its conclusion, it’s a critical time for many bills that are still in the pipeline. The 50th Day, a significant milestone in the legislative calendar, is on Tuesday, February 27th. This day marks a period when the focus sharpens on advancing bills through the […]

40-Day Count Down We have now completed 40 days of the 60-day 2024 Legislative Session. The focus is now shifting to bills being heard on the floor as opposed to committee meetings. For those bills that have been assigned to committees but have not been heard, the likelihood of them passing this session is minimal. […]

Halfway Mark The legislative session reached its “halfway” mark, Day 30, on Wednesday, February 7th.  Legislators are now heading into the second half of the 2024 session with both chambers having passed only 12 bills thus far.  Many of those bills are technical statutory revision bills required each year to make updates and delete provisions […]

Budget HB 5001- General Appropriations Act by House Appropriations Committee and Chair Leek SB 2500- Appropriations by Senate Appropriations Committee The budgets proposed by the House and Senate were heard in the Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, January 31. Lawmakers discussed the spending plan for the upcoming year with the House proposing a spending package of […]

Healthcare SB 248 – Medical Negligence by Senator Yarborough SB 248 by Senator Yarborough proposes changes to the Florida Wrongful Death Act. The act currently allows families to seek compensation for non-economic damages if the Department of Health (DOH) or the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) concludes that a facility or practitioner violated the […]

Healthcare “Live Healthy” SB 7016 – Health Care by Health Policy by Senator Burton SB 7018 – Health Care Innovation by Health Policy by Senator Harrell SB 7016 and SB 7018, collectively known as “Live Healthy and a top priority of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo unanimously passed the Senate floor on Thursday, January 18th. The initiative […]

Opening Day The 2024 Legislative Session commenced on Tuesday, January 9 with legislators gathering in Tallahassee to pass legislation and a balanced state budget. In her opening remarks, President Passidomo outlined her commitment to expanding the healthcare workforce but was emphatic in her refusal to relitigate Medicaid expansion. The Live Healthy package, a Senate priority, […]

Headliners Sine Die Congratulations!!  We’ve made it to the end of the 2023 Legislative Session where both Chambers adjourned sine die on Friday, May 5. This year, the following business was conducted: 1,873 Bills and Proposed Committee Bills (PCBs) filed 2,674 Amendments filed 3,229 Votes Taken 52 Floor Sessions 356 Bills passed both chambers Budget […]

Headliners 50th Day Rule and Budget Conferences Tuesday, April 25 marked the 50th day of the 2023 Legislative Session. With over 2,000 bills filed by legislators, committee hearings have come to an end per the rules of the Legislature; all bills that have not made it past their committee references have died. As we continue […]

Headliners Budget On Friday, April 21, House Speaker, Paul Renner, and Senate President, Kathleen Passidomo, announced that conferencing between the two chambers is likely to start Monday, April 24.  The House and Senate passed separate budgets earlier this month and the two chambers are now working on allocating the dollars toward each section of the […]

Headliners CS/HB 7 – Pregnancy and Parenting Support by Representative Persons-Mulicka SB 300 – Pregnancy and Parenting Support by Senator Grall On Thursday, April 13, after more than seven hours of discourse and more than 50 amendments filed on the House floor, all of which were not adopted, SB 300, passed with a vote of […]

“Heartbeat Protection Act” SB 300 – Pregnancy and Parent Support by Senator Grall HB 7 – Pregnancy and Parent Support by Representatives Persons-Mulicka Both chambers debated SB 300/HB 7 regarding the expansion of the 15-week ban for the termination of pregnancy and other healthcare services this week. SB 300/HB 7 will prohibit a physician from […]

Universal Voucher Bill HB 1 – Education- Representative Kaylee Tuck SB 202 – Education- Senator Corey Simon Week 4 of the 2023 Legislative Session began with the signing of HB 1 by Representative Tuck, a comprehensive education bill expanding the eligibility for school choice. On Monday, March 27th Governor DeSantis approved the bill, formally making […]

Budget On Thursday, the Senate released their proposed General Appropriations Act (SB 2500) for the 2023-24 fiscal year with the House releasing their version (HB 5001) on Friday. The House proposes a $112.9 billion budget where the Senate proposes a $113.6 billion budget.  Each chamber’s budget is less than the proposed $114.8 budget presented by […]

Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee Substitute for House Bill 111 Flooding and Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Studies by Representative Hunschofsky Senate Bill 1170 Flooding and Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Studies by Senator Calatayud CS/HB 111 by Representative Hunschofsky will expand the current provisions set forth by the legislature’s passage of SB 178 during the 202 […]

Opening Day The Florida Legislature convened in Tallahassee for the commencement of the state’s 125th Legislative Session on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. President Kathleen Passidomo delivered an impassioned opening statement thanking the entire legislature for their commitment to serving their constituents, outlaying the achievements of the legislature during Special Session, and the goals of the […]

On Monday, December 12, 2022, the Florida Legislature convened for 2022 Special Session A, with the goal of providing much needed disaster relief, addressing Florida’s fragile homeowners’ insurance environment and toll relief for traveling public. The Special Session lasted three days and concluded Wednesday afternoon. This was the third Special Session of 2022. Three pieces […]

Welcome to Becker’s End of Session Spotlight! As your trusted lobbyists we are proud to provide you with the latest developments in politics and policy in Tallahassee. As the 2022 Legislative Session comes to a close, here is what happened in Tallahassee during Week 9 (March 7 – March 11) and Monday, March 14. SINE DIE […]

Welcome to Becker’s Weekly Spotlight! As your trusted lobbyists, we are proud to provide you with the latest developments in politics and policy in Tallahassee. Here is what happened in Tallahassee during Week 8 (February 28 – March 4) of the 2022 Legislative Session. LOCAL GOVERNMENT Additional Homestead Property Tax Exemption for Specified Critical Public […]

Becker Weekly Spotlight Week 7 February 21 – February 25 Welcome to Becker’s Weekly Spotlight! As your trusted lobbyists we are proud to provide you with the latest developments in politics and policy in Tallahassee. Here is what happened in Tallahassee during Week 7 (February 21 – February 25) of the 2022 Legislative Session. HEADLINES General Appropriations Act. […]

Becker Weekly Spotlight Week 6 February 14 – February 18 Welcome to Becker’s Weekly Spotlight! As your trusted lobbyists, we are proud to provide you with the latest developments in politics and policy in Tallahassee. Here is what happened in Tallahassee during Week 6 (February 14 – February 18) of the 2022 Legislative Session. HEADLINES […]

Becker’s State Lobbying Update: Week 5, February 7-11 Welcome to Becker’s Weekly Spotlight! As your trusted lobbyists, we are proud to provide you with the latest developments in politics and policy in Tallahassee. Here is what happened in Tallahassee during Week 5 (February 7 – February 11) of the 2022 Legislative Session. HEADLINES Budget. The House and […]

Becker’s State Lobbying Update: Week 4, January 31-February 4 Welcome to Becker’s Weekly Spotlight! As your trusted lobbyists, we are proud to provide you with the latest developments in politics and policy in Tallahassee. Here is what happened in Tallahassee during Week 4 (January 31- February 4) of the 2022 Legislative Session. HEADLINES The budget for […]

Becker Weekly Spotlight: Week 3, January 24-28 Welcome to Becker’s Weekly Spotlight! As your trusted lobbyists we are proud to provide you with the latest developments in politics and policy in Tallahassee. Here is what happened in Tallahassee during Week 3 (January 24-28) of the 2022 Legislative Session. HEADLINES Local Ordinances. SB 280 by Senator […]

HEADLINES SB 102 by Sen. Ray Rodrigues passed on Thursday, January 20, 2022 and created new political maps for congressional districts and state Senate. The congressional map proposal passed with a vote of 31-4 and the state Senate district map (SB 100 by Sen. Ray Rodrigues) passed 34-3. This vote comes two days after State Senator Shevrin […]

HEADLINES Opening Day – Tuesday, January 11, 2022, marked the opening day of the 2022 Legislative Session. President Wilton Simpson and House Speaker Chris Sprowls addressed both chambers with a common theme: Keep Florida free. This theme aligns with Governor DeSantis who also presented his State of the State address to both chambers. While he […]

This week, the legislature convened for Special Session 2021B to address multiple COVID-19 mandate related issues. The brief Special Session concluded with four bills passing. Each bill, summarized below, was signed by Governor DeSantis yesterday, November 18, 2021. As always, if you have any questions, please contact us. HB 1B – COVID-19 Mandates HB 1B has […]

Becker Shareholder Yolanda Cash Jackson recently welcomed Florida Secretary of Commerce and Enterprise Florida President & CEO Jamal Sowell for an in-depth conversation about the purpose and impact of the state’s Job Growth Grant Fund. This economic development program, administered by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, is designed to promote public infrastructure projects and […]

HEADLINES Sine Die. The Florida Legislature adjourned on Friday, April 30th around 2:40 pm. The 2021 regular session presented some extraordinary challenges to all who participated in the legislative process. As this COVID-19 Session comes to an end, the following business was conducted: 3,140 Bills and Proposed Committee Bills (PCBs) filed 2,632 Amendments filed 3,788 […]

HEADLINES Budget. After a week of budget conferencing, the House and Senate appear to be nearing agreement on the state budget for the fiscal year. On Friday night, House and Senate budget chiefs publicly accepted compromises regarding health care, education and prisons expenditures. Some of the key decisions included backing off proposed Medicaid cuts for […]

HEADLINES Budget. The House and Senate took votes last week on their chambers’ ‘proposed respective budgets for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. The House voted on Thursday to approve their $97B proposed budget by a vote of 104-14, while the Senate unanimously passed their $95B spending plan. Senate President Wilton Simpson signaled that he did not think […]

HEADLINES Budget. The Revenue Estimating Conference will meet on April 6th. It is anticipated that revenue projections will be higher than expected, resulting in an increase in the amount of cash available going into budget negotiations. With respect to the expected $10B in relief money coming to the state from the federal government, Senate President […]

Vote of the Regulatory Reform Subcommittee Fell Mostly Along Party Lines As our many local government clients know, the Becker Team has been intimately involved in lobbying against the many attempts to limit their ability to manage the vacation rental crisis. The issue continues to severely impact cities of all sizes. We continue to be […]