WPBN: Legislators in Florida are preparing for the new year by putting forward measures for the 2025 session. Representative Dean Black says it’s not surprising that other lawmakers have already submitted bills, even though it’s still months away.
“In a normal session, we see somewhere around 2,000 bills or so filed, somewhere around there. You might get 300 by the time it’s said and done that actually get passed into law,” he stated.
There are already 40 legislation on the docket, many of which address issues that voters expressed strong opinions about during the November election.
There are currently four legislation that have been submitted for the state that address child care and expenses.
If lawmakers’ proposal to establish a universal free school breakfast and lunch program is approved, you won’t be required to pay your child lunch money if they attend a public school. This would also hold true for summer food programs.
Another is to give pre-kindergarten programs twice as many hours during the school year and summer.
Additionally, there are bills to use campaign cash for child care costs and to increase the length of paid parental leave for state employees to 12 weeks without deducting from their sick leave.
“We’re going to make sure that we’re focused on passing a balanced budget, a lean budget,” Black stated. “We’re going to be looking at what the ramifications were of the repeated hurricane strikes that we just had. We’re also going to be looking at affordability and inflation costs that have increased. So we’re going to be making sure that housing affordability is continually addressed.”
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However, when can we expect these bills to become law?
The legislation state that they will take effect on July 1st, but this could alter as they pass through committees and even on the floor.
“It has to get a hearing, and there are a number of things that go into the consideration as to whether or not the committee is going to take the time to hear it.” Black stated.
When the session begins on March 4, the hearings for the proposed bills will start.
