Here is a list of some of the bills that were considered in the 2023 Florida 60 day legislative session with a brief description and whether the Jax-NOW legislative committee supports or opposes the bill.
The status of the senate version of the bill as of 4/21/2023 is in red--we'll be updating this soon for the status as of the last day of the legislative session.
The descriptions are based on the bill as written as of March 14th--amendments and committee substitutes subsequent to that date might change these descriptions.
Even numbers are Senate bills. Odd numbers are House bills. Enrolled means it passed the House and the Senate, but as of 5/8/2023, the Governor hasn't signed it yet.
CONSTITUTIONAL EQUALITY, ECONOMIC JUSTICE
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SUPPORT 270 / 513 - Equal Rights for men and women, ERA --Committee chairs refused to put it on the agenda
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SUPPORT 137 / 1598 - Department of Labor - Creates department to provide services--Committee chairs refused to put it on the agenda
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OPPOSE 129 / 1410 - Proposes amendment to State Constitution to increase percentage of elector votes required to approve amendment to or revision of State Constitution from 60 percent to 66.67 percent, except repeal of amendment or revision need only be approved by same percentage of elector votes as was required at time of passage of such amendment or revision.
The Senate committees never heard the bill and it died.
HEALTH INCLUDING REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
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SUPPORT 1076 / 1033 - Reproductive Health Care Rights--Committee chairs refused to put it on the agenda
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SUPPORT 646 / 1199 - Medicaid Eligibility for Young Adults--Committee chairs refused to put it on the agenda
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SUPPORT 730 / 779 (similarities but not identical) - Providing incarcerated pregnant people right to defer sentencing until after delivery--The Senate committees never heard the bill and it died.
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OPPOSE 300 / 7 - Bans abortions after six weeks and requires medication abortion to be supervised by a physician and gives millions more to fake clinics--not effective until the courts rule on the whether or not last year's 15 week abortion ban violates Florida's right to privacy and to be let alone from government intrusion into ones private life that is guaranteed in our state Constitution-signed by the Governor
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OPPOSE 252 / 1013 - Prohibits private businesses and governmental entities from requiring individuals to provide proof of vaccination and prohibits requirements for masks, see complete summary HERE--Enrolled
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Oppose 1580 / 1403 Demands healthcare providers and insurers be allowed to deny a patient care on the basis of the health care providers and payors' religious beliefs--See complete summary HERE --Enrolled
The above status was updated 5/8/2023--Still need to update the status of the ones below
LGBTQ RIGHTS
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SUPPORT 328 / 393 -Gay and Transgender legal defense--Committee chairs refused to put it on the agenda
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SUPPORT 330 and the similar 276 -no bill in house as of 3/14/2023 - Adds gender to the crimes evidencing prejudice statute-Committee chairs refused to put it on the agenda
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OPPOSE 254 / 1421 Creates criminal penalties for the provision of "sex-reassignment" prescriptions or procedures. Prohibits person's biological sex from being changed on birth certificate with a few exceptions; prohibits health insurance policy & health maintenance contract from providing coverage for "gender clinical interventions as defined in s. 456.52(1)." Prohibits certain care and requires physician's license to be revoked if the the physician violated this section. See action alert at top of page .
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OPPOSE 952 / 1265 - Imposes unfair rules on employers who include gender dysphoria treatment in their health insurance policies --See action alert for SB 254
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OPPOSE 1438 / 1423 Seeks to ban drag shows and allows people in power the ability to define art for everyone as of 4/21/2023 SB 1438 passed the House and Senate
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Oppose 1521/ 1674 The bill defines what it means to be a man and a woman--potentially causing people who don't fit the stereotype to be harassed. On the agenda for the Senate Fiscal Policy on 4/25/2023
RACIAL JUSTICE
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Watch 804 / 551 - Required African - American History Instruction in all publicly funded schools -One more committee to go-Questions in committee wanting a guarantee that Rufo's organization wouldn't do the training
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SUPPORT 332 -no bill in house as of 3/14/2023 -Public Records/Hate Crimes Reporting Act-Collects related data--Committee chairs refused to put it on the agenda
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SUPPORT 590 / 51 (similarities) - Prohibited Discrimination Based on Hairstyle-Committee chairs refused to put it on the agenda-
EDUCATION/CHILDREN
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SUPPORT 584 / 217 (similar) - Creates “Children’s Bill of Rights Act”-Committee chairs refused to put it on the agenda-
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SUPPORT 324 / 311 - Education-Post-Secondary Intellectual Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity--Committee chairs refused to put it on the agenda
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SUPPORT 334 / 389 - Menstrual Hygiene Products in Public Schools--Committee chairs refused to put it on the agenda
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OPPOSE 94 / 31 - Partisan Election for District School Boards -as of 4/21/2023 HB 31 passed the House and Senate
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OPPOSE 202 / 1 (similar) - Subsidizes the private school tuition of millionaires-- signed by the Governor
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OPPOSE 266 / 999 (similar) -It would ban certain programs such as gender studies, terminate jobs, corrupt the hiring process, and censor academic thought. See action alert at top of page .
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OPPOSE 1320 / 1069 - Defines sex as the "classification of a human person as being either male or female based on the organization of the body of such person for a specific reproductive role." Teach that these "reproductive roles are binary, stable, and unchangeable." Prohibits an employee, contractor, or student of a public school from being required to refer to a person using personal titles or pronouns that do not correspond with that person’s sex as defined in the bill. Expands last year's HB 1557 (the don't say gay bill that has created chaos and discrimination) from grade 3 to grade 8. See action alert at top of page .
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Oppose 1445 / 256 Harms the teachers union See action alert at top of page .
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN/GUN VIOLENCE
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SUPPORT 130 / 97 (similar) - Requires courts to look at domestic violence history when initiating a parenting plan--as of 4/21/2023 SB 130 passed the House and Senate
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SUPPORT 166 / 59 (similar) - Human Trafficking and Prostitution--Committee chairs refused to put it on the agenda
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SUPPORT 1022 / 123 - Sexual Battery on Mentally Incapacitated Person--Committee chairs refused to put it on the agenda
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SUPPORT 191 / 1656 - Financial Aid for Victims of Rape, Incest, Domestic Violence,----Committee chairs refused to put it on the agenda
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OPPOSE 150 / 543 (similar) Permit-less Carry of Weapons & Firearms -- signed by the Governor
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OPPOSE 1543 -(no companion bill in the senate as of 3/14/2023) Lowers the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 21 to 18--What will happen? No senate version, but the House version is on the House floor.
MISCELANEOUS
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OPPOSE 991 / 1220 (similar) - Makes it easier to file a lawsuit against journalists for criticizing public officials.- See action alert at top of page .
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OPPOSE 302 / 3 ( similar) - Government and Corporate Activism--as of 4/21/2023 HB 3 passed the House and Senate
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OPPOSE 170 / 1515 (similar) Suspends local ordinance if there is a lawsuit filed-- -as of 4/21/2023 passed the Senate and a similar bill is on the House floor
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Oppose 1409/ 1416 Alters parenting plans and time sharing schedules and alters alimony Per Judy on 4/14/2023: passed the Senate
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Oppose 7050 / 7067 Per the LWV-Florida: These bills require community voter registration groups to provide a receipt to the voter and this receipt must include the name of the individual who registered the voter. After the targeting and prosecution of mistaken voters over the past year by the state’s election police, it appears the state is now looking to target people out in the community helping voters. These bills attempt to pass the buck and put responsibility on the voter to navigate the labyrinthine election code to determine their voting eligibility. If you have to hire a lawyer to determine your eligibility, that is clearly an unfair barrier to voting. Determining eligibility is and should be the responsibility of the state. These bills reduce the time that a voter has to request a ballot be mailed to them and also require voters to file cumbersome emergency affidavits just to pick up a vote-by-mail ballot from the Supervisor of Elections office during early voting. Even one change to policies relating to vote-by-mail can create confusion and a number of minor changes can add up creating significant barriers. Election officials are still having difficulties implementing vote-by-mail provisions from the last two election bills. These changes are unnecessary and will cause confusion. The bills increase the administrative and reporting burdens on already under-staffed and under-resourced election offices, adding a host of additional requirements with increasingly tight timeframes and fiscal obligations. At the same time, it reduces oversight on electioneering organizations and campaign finance by reducing their reporting requirements. Please continue to watch for and respond to Action Alerts from LWVFL regarding this harmful legislation!