Florida's legislative session ends with little to show for it
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The Florida Legislature adjourned last week, with hundreds of bills on the cutting floor and plenty of unfinished business ahead.
Why it matters: Lawmakers filed 1,896 bills this session. One in eight passed, and none of them did much to make insurance, electricity or health care more affordable — a chief concern among their constituents.
Driving the news: Last year, GOP infighting resulted in one of the longest, least productive sessions in recent memory. This year yielded fewer high-profile disagreements, even fewer bills and a growing list of special sessions.
- The Legislature will reconvene after Easter to finish the state budget, then again for property tax relief, and again for redistricting.
- At stake in the budget fight are tens of millions of dollars in Tampa Bay projects — including a $50 million campus overhaul at Hillsborough College that would make room for a new Rays stadium.
By the numbers: This year's bill count, 237, is the lowest since 2020, before Republicans held supermajorities in both chambers.
What they're saying: House Speaker Daniel Perez did not respond to Axios' request for comment. Senate President Ben Albritton's office rejected the idea that the number of bills passed is a "measure of success for any session of the Legislature."
- "In his view, the objective of conservative, limited government in a free society is not to annually pass as many new laws and regulations as possible," Katie Betta, a spokesperson for Albritton, told Axios.
- "The goal is for people to live in freedom with as little government interference as possible," she added.
The other side: State House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell (D-Tampa) said in a statement that "Republicans used affordability as an empty buzzword and ignored the problem."
- Gov. Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, blamed the stalled budget talks on the "personal agenda" of lawmakers.
Between the lines: The Legislature, riding supermajorities built partly on DeSantis' popularity, passed 356 bills advancing his agenda in 2023.
- But in 2024, DeSantis flew too close to the sun in challenging President Trump, and he returned to Florida with his power and profile singed.
- Political analysts expected that some lawmakers would "delight" in defying the governor. Enter Perez, who ensured that many of the items on DeSantis' wish list did not see the light of day.
The bottom line: With Democrats all but extinct in Florida, the only obstacle Republicans face in enacting their agenda is themselves.