2025 Legislative Session: Bills to watch in Florida
By Ana Goñi-Lessan and Gray Rohrer
Legislators have already held three sessions this year, but there’s still some heavy-hitting legislation that could impose more immigration laws, lower restrictions on guns and cut property and business taxes.
Tuesday the House and Senate will meet at the Florida Capitol again for the regular 60-day legislative session, and although Gov. Ron DeSantis and GOP legislative leaders agreed to a compromise on immigration enforcement measures, it came after a war of words.
Now, a panoply of contentious issues – guns, insurance and taxes, even immigration again, to name a few – could produce more clashes between DeSantis and his fellow Republicans.
Here are five issues to follow during the 2025 Florida Legislative session.
More immigration bills
The Legislature, with DeSantis’ support, passed tough anti-illegal immigration legislation in February. But some elected officials, even some Democrats, say the bills didn’t go far enough.
Sen. Joe Gruters, the Sarasota Republican who was the driving force behind Florida’s new immigration rules, filed legislation called “Forms of Identification” (SB 1258) to require that state-issued ID cards and driver licenses include whether someone is a citizen or a non-citizen
Here are five issues to follow during the 2025 Florida Legislative session.
More immigration bills
The Legislature, with DeSantis’ support, passed tough anti-illegal immigration legislation in February. But some elected officials, even some Democrats, say the bills didn’t go far enough.
Sen. Joe Gruters, the Sarasota Republican who was the driving force behind Florida’s new immigration rules, filed legislation called “Forms of Identification” (SB 1258) to require that state-issued ID cards and driver licenses include whether someone is a citizen or a non-citizen.
On the House side, Rep. Lauren Melo, a Naples Republican, filed the companion bill (HB 891). Melo originally backed DeSantis’ immigration legislation.
During the immigration debate, Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo of North Miami pushed for an amendment to require all businesses to use E-Verify, a federal program to check a prospective hire’s legal status, instead of just those with more than 25 employees, as under current law.
“If over 90% of the wages earned in this state can continue to go to illegal aliens without any kind of check or measure, you are not serious about combating illegal immigration,” said Pizzo, a possible Democratic candidate for governor in 2026.
His amendment was ruled "out of order" and didn’t get a vote on the Senate floor. Pizzo now has filed a bill (SB 782) with bipartisan support from Gruters, a candidate for state chief financial officer in 2026, and Sen. Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island.
It would require that all private employers, rather than only those employing a specified number or more of employees, use the E-Verify system to verify a new employee’s employment eligibility.
Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, also filed a bill that would require all employers to use E-Verify, but his legislation goes even further.
A bill entitled "Services to Noncitizens" (SB 1498) also creates a cause of action to sue the employer of an undocumented immigrant who injures or kills someone; requires proof of citizenship to receive down payment assistance for housing; and prohibits wire transfers from illegal immigrants to another country.
Firearms on campus
There are several bills dealing with who, when and where you can carry a gun in Florida.
Sen. Randy Fine, R-Melbourne Beach, has filed a bill that would allow what's known as "campus carry." That measure (SB 814) would authorize a person to carry a firearm on the property of any college or university.
Another bill by Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, would allow law enforcement offers to carry their weapons concealed while on school property if they are attending an athletic event as a private citizen.
There's also a House bill that would lower the age at which person may purchase a firearm. Reps. Michelle Salzman, R-Cantonment, and Tyler Sirois, R-Merritt Island, are the sponsors of HB 759, which would drop the age from 21 to 18.
This February, DeSantis said he would support open carry legislation in a social media post. Florida currently allows permitless concealed carry, but not open carry.
“Would be great to see it hit my desk – Florida needs to join the overwhelming majority of states and protect this right,” DeSantis posted on X.
A ‘rural renaissance’
After some of Florida’s most fiscally constrained counties were battered by hurricanes, the Florida Senate has come up with a way to help these communities.
The “Rural Renaissance” bill (SB 110), sponsored by Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, will devote almost $200 million for infrastructure improvements that would support these rural areas. The bill will affect nearly half of Florida’s counties – 31 of 67.
“With your support, we can expand education, health care, commerce, transportation and support agriculture, and its supply chain, so Floridians who call our rural communities home, have access to the opportunities the rest of Florida has to offer,” Albritton said in a news release.
The bill will create the Office of Rural Prosperity at the Florida Department of Commerce to provide technical assistance to rural communities. It will also establish grants for counties with declining populations and attempt to preserve rental properties in rural areas.
Improving internet access, adding funding opportunities for school districts and expanding health care access by including more dollars to enhance Medicaid payments to reimburse rural hospitals are also part of the bill.
“We have seen tremendous economic growth in urban areas of Florida, it’s Rural Florida’s turn,” Albritton said.
Property tax cuts
Although DeSantis has talked about wanting to eliminate tax cuts, that’s not likely to happen any time soon.
But Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, has filed a bill (SB 852) requiring a study of getting rid of property tax cuts and making up the difference with budget cuts and sales tax increases. It's as yet unclear whether it will gain traction; a similar bill failed to advance last year.
DeSantis has noted removing property taxes would require a constitutional amendment passed by voters, and instead wants to pass a measure that will cut property taxes without eliminating them completely.
One measure to do that (SB 1016) is sponsored by Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill. It would place a measure on the 2026 ballot increasing the homestead exemption from $25,000 to $75,000.
The exemption would apply to all property tax levies, including those for schools. Under current law, homesteaded properties worth at least $75,000 have an exemption of $50,000. The first $25,000 applies to all property taxes, but the second $25,000 exemption doesn’t apply to school district levies.
If the bill passes the Legislature, it would require 60% approval from voters in 2026 before taking effect in January 2027.
Water projects
Another Albritton priority (SB 7002) gives the Legislature more power to scrutinize and even thwart some projects by water management districts. It allows a legislative budget panel to reject proposed projects of the water management districts if they use state money.
And while the bill provides $1.5 billion for environmental projects, it also requires greater details from the South Florida Water Management District for spending related to projects that are part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.
Water is an issue where DeSantis has clashed with the Senate before, vetoing a bill in 2022 pushed by then-Senate President Wilton Simpson.
Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com. Gray Rohrer is a reporter with the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at grohrer@gannett.com.