Local Republicans and Democrats tout successes as 2024 Florida Legislative Session comes to a close

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The 2024 Florida Legislative Session has come to an end and many controversial bills didn’t cross the finish line.

Additionally, some of the biggest items managed to pass with bipartisan support.

The legislature passed a total of 325 bills during the 2024 session.

That means about 85% of all bills filed this year didn’t pass.

READ: Ten key issues that died during the 2024 Florida Legislative Session

Florida lawmakers passed priority legislation for both the House Speaker and Senate President with bipartisan support, prohibiting children under the age of 14 from having social media accounts and investing hundreds of millions of dollars to attract, recruit, and retain healthcare professionals.

State lawmakers also cracked down on retail and porch theft, along with public sleeping and camping.

They also banned wind energy and lab-grown meat.

For State Representative Dean Black (R-Yulee), the session was a success for Republicans.

“We have shown that we can work together. We can solve real problems and that gives us hope for the future,” said Black.

Black also managed to get one of his key bills through, which would require more financial transparency from teachers’ unions.

“So, you have to provide a copy of the books every year to your union members and show them how their money is spent,” said Black.

But Democrats saw some success too.

Many controversial bills fizzled out like a proposed preemption over local governments on monument removals, a bill that could have established fetal personhood, a ban on pride flags in schools, repeals of gun restrictions passed in the wake of the Parkland shooting, and a requirement for people to use their biological sex on their drivers’ license.

“We really went out, we organized, we pushed back and we had some wins this legislative session,” said State Representative Angie Nixon (D-Jacksonville).

Nixon noted Democrats were also successful in watering down some controversial bills that did manage to pass.

She pointed to additional protections added to a bill on the last day of the session that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work longer hours.

“To allow children to now have breaks. 30-minute breaks after working at least five hours. They also have some heat protections,” said Nixon.”

UNF political science professor Dr. Michael Binder explained objections from Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples) also went a long way in killing some of the session’s most controversial bills.

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But he added it’s not uncommon for lawmakers to tone down red-meat partisan issues in election years.

“Generally speaking, election-year politics try to be less divisive and tend to be more dollar and cents motivated because you have to go back to your district and get reelected in the fall. You’re not looking to cause problems,” said Binder.

Binder added the Governor also managed to come out of the session with some key wins, though perhaps not as many as last year when he was gearing up to run for President.

Those included the public sleeping bill, the retail theft bill, and a suspension of state taxes on property insurance premiums.

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