Please Note: The Florida Legislature has left the Capitol with an agreement to extend the 2025 Session into May, only to handle the unfinished budget. All bills that have not passed are dead. The following is a brief look at the final dispensation of some of the major bills we were following during the 2025 Legislative Session.
Attacks on Collective Bargaining for Public Sector Workers (FAILED)
SB 1328/HB 121
OPPOSED – These bills represented another attack on the rights of our public sector workers to join and remain in their unions. These come after two years of attacks on these workers’ rights through arbitrary and unfair policies and practices designed to make union membership more difficult. Our affiliates quickly organized to counter these attacks. This “death by a thousand paper cuts” strategy ran into a wall this year when the power of the Governor and the out of state, billionaire funded think tanks funding his political was replaced with a more independent legislature.
Public Employees Relations Commission (FAILED)
SB 1766/HB 1387
OPPOSED – These bills would have made changes to how PERC handles the certification and recertification of public sector unions that would have added needless new bureaucratic hurdles that workers and their organizations must navigate to exercise their collective bargaining rights.
Eliminating the Citizen’s Initiative Process (PASSED)
SB 7016/HB 1205
OPPOSED – The Florida Legislature has passed dozens of changes to state law over the years to make it more difficult for citizens to propose, petition and vote to make changes they want to the Constitution, usually in response to legislative inaction on key issues. Some of the most positive changes that have been made in Florida were made through constitutional amendments. These bills continue the years-long attack on the Citizen’s Initiative process in many ways. If supported by the courts, this will be the final nail in the coffin for the initiative process.
Eliminating Child Labor Protections (FAILED)
SB 918/HB 1225
OPPOSED – These bills would have stripped long standing labor protections for 16–17-year-olds and would have subjected children as young as 14 to potentially abusive treatment in workplaces This attempt by the tourism and service industries to solve their labor shortages on the backs of children failed after a hard-fought effort by the Labor community and our allies.
Weakening Minimum Wage Rights (FAILED)
SB 676/HB 541
OPPOSED – Florida’s Constitution guarantees all workers in Florida a state minimum wage, currently $13 per for non-tipped workers and set to rise in September to $14. These bills will change state law to allow workers/students to “opt-out” of their right if they work in structured work-study, internships, pre-apprenticeship programs, apprenticeships, or similar work-based learning opportunities, if these employees choose to opt out. This would have been a huge loophole in a hard-fought constitutional right.
Eliminating the Labor Pool Act (FAILED)
SB 1672/HB 6033
OPPOSED – Temporary workers and day laborers are some of the most abused workers in Florida. These are often workers trying to start careers or enter the workforce while providing for their families. Florida’s Labor Pool Act provides some basic legal protections for these workers, who, in most cases, are not fully protected by other state and federal laws. Some unscrupulous labor pool agencies and politicians wanted to take these protections away by completely repealing the Labor Pool Act so that they can abuse these workers at will to increase their profits. These bills would have stripped away critical protections for nearly one million workers in Florida.
The Nail in the Coffin of Florida’s Unemployment Insurance System (FAILED)
SB 1238/HB 1157
OPPOSED – Florida’s Unemployment Insurance System (UI) is already ranked dead last in the nation. The benefits are the lowest, the duration of benefits are the shortest and the number of unemployed workers who ever receive benefits is less than 10%. These bills would have put new barriers in place that would make sure that no workers ever qualify for unemployment, enriching big businesses who are supposed to pay for the system.
Imposing Term Limits on School Boards and County Commissions (FAILED)
SJR 802/HJR 679
OPPOSED – These Joint Resolutions would have allowed all the voters of the state to impose term limits on every county, whether the local residents want them or not. This is patently unfair and represented a “one size fits all” approach to governance structure in a state with 67 very diverse counties.
Charter School Industry Takeover of Local School Districts (PASSED)*
SB 140/ HB 123
OPPOSED – The charter school industry has been taking more and more money and power from our local school districts for years and these bills accelerate this trend exponentially by allowing for the conversion of public schools into charter schools without the input of educators or school officials and giving charter schools more control over the conversion process.
*The listed bills failed but in a last-minute, late-night move, this language was tucked into another bill that passed (HB 1105).
Don’t Say Gay at Work (FAILED)
SB 440 / HB 1495
OPPOSED – This policy would have gone far beyond regulating pronouns and imposed government control over free speech and activities in Florida workplaces. All nonprofit organizations and any private business that does business with the State of Florida or any local government would have been regulated and policed by this law. This extreme overreach that would have dictated how charities and certain private business, and human service organizations can train employees on LGBTQ+ issues, conduct other LGBTQ+ related activities, and even how employees can speak to each other. This was a critical workplace rights issue that should concern all workers.
Higher Education (FAILED)
SB 1726 / HB 1321
SUPPORT – Higher education in Florida has been enveloped by made up conflicts and controversies and the attacks have brought our entire system to the brink of collapse on the national stage. The culture wars and other factors have brought major attacks on academic freedom, the elimination of entire departments and a governance structure that has put the Governor (through his appointees) in complete control. These bills, while not identical, would have greatly improved our colleges and universities by returning some governance structures to their pre-Desantis state, including a return of the university and college president hiring process back into the sunshine.
Middle School and High School Start Times (PASSED)
SB 296 / HB 61
SUPPORT – These bills remove the mandated time change and give the school districts more authority to determine ways to combat sleep deprivation and manage school start times.
