The 60-day Legislative Session began on March 4 and was scheduled to end on May 2 — sort of.
Lawmakers extended the session until June 6, 2025, to finalize the budget and tie up loose ends. But over the weekend, a last-minute budget deal collapsed amid infighting among legislative leadership, veto threats from the Governor, and political posturing.
Legislators in the House have now extended the session through the end of June, though it may be wrapped up before then. While the budget remains in limbo, the real cost of this delay falls on everyday Floridians still waiting for real solutions to urgent problems.
Meanwhile, all other bills have been “indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration.” That means many of the worst legislative attacks on our freedoms — bills that were filed, debated, and moved through committees — ultimately failed to cross the finish line.
But let’s be clear: the supermajority can revive these bills next session or try to slip them into the budget process. We must remain vigilant to defend our rights and liberties.
During the 2025 session, the ACLU of Florida tracked and analyzed hundreds of bills, advocated directly with lawmakers, testified at the Capitol and submitted written testimony, and took action at rallies, roundtables, town halls, committee hearings, and press conferences. We activated our supporters statewide, raised media awareness on critical civil liberties issues, and made sure Floridians knew what was at stake.
The supermajority’s legislative agenda was filled with numerous bills that would have caused lasting harm — undermining Constitutional rights and stripping away the freedom and dignity of Floridians statewide. Their attacks targeted voting rights, free speech, immigrant communities, reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ communities, and the basic ability of all Floridians to live, work, and care for their families. Fortunately, the people of Florida pushed back. Through advocacy, action, and collective resistance, many of the supermajority’s most inhumane and harmful priorities failed to pass this session. The tireless work of grassroots organizers, advocates, legal experts, and everyday Floridians who showed up in force to protect our rights and our communities made all the difference.
Thankfully, with your help, all of the below bills and more were stopped in their tracks:
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A bill that would have censored media outlets and undermined the First Amendment rights of the press and reporters. (SB 752/HB 667)
- Bills that would have censored discussions, programming, training, and practices regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion in state and local governments and medical institutions. (HB 731/SB 1710) (HB 1571/SB 420)
- Legislation to expand book bans and censor materials, speech, discussions, and works of art in public education, public libraries, and grant-funded endeavors. (HB 1539/SB 1692)(SB 1524/HB 1011)
- A bill that would have chilled student speech and defunded K-12 discussions on political and social activism. (HB 1255/SB 1618)
- A bill allowing abusers to sue healthcare providers, friends, and family members of their victims who help them seek access to abortion care. (SB 1284/HB 1517)
- A bill that would have made it harder for young people to access birth control and would have prevented doctors from treating patients with STIs. (SB 1288/HB 1505)
- A bill that would have allowed employers to exploit young workers and that would have rolled back child labor protections. (HB 1225/SB 918)
- A bill that would have allowed employers to pay hardworking Floridians less than the minimum wage guaranteed under Florida’s constitution. (SB 676/HB 541)
Shamefully, despite the incredible outpouring of opposition, significant harmful and unconstitutional bills did pass this year, including:
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A bill that creates major legal and financial hurdles for Floridians to pass citizen-led amendments and have a say in the policies that shape our lives. (HB 1205)
- Cruel anti-immigrant bills that tear families apart, criminalize immigrants, divert hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars away from addressing the needs of everyday Floridians, while imposing fear-driven policies in our communities that do nothing to solve real problems. (SB 2C and 4C)
The 2025 Legislative Session was defined by government overreach, a lack of transparency, revelations about how taxpayer dollars were diverted to undermine the will of the people, and relentless legislative attacks on the citizen-led amendment process — threatening Floridians’ ability to shape the policies that govern their lives.
The Florida Constitution requires the legislature to do one thing during session: pass a budget. Yet even that basic responsibility was left undone. Instead, the supermajority spent an inordinate amount of time trying to take away our freedoms.
Rather than addressing urgent issues like affordable housing, health care costs and access, low wages, and lack of job opportunities, they used taxpayer dollars to score political points and silence dissent. But Floridians didn’t let it go unchecked.
We resisted — loudly and clearly. We showed up at the Capitol, in courtrooms, and in our communities to defend our rights and demand better.
We urge every Floridian to take note of the supermajority’s dangerous priorities and to hold their legislators accountable.
We the People demand a more humane and proactive approach to governance that protects and advances constitutional rights and freedoms of all Floridians.
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We demand the freedom to vote.
- We demand reproductive freedom.
- We demand freedom of speech and expression — without fear of government reprisal.
- We demand to live safely and freely, regardless of where we were born or who we love.
Together, we were able to stop and neutralize many of the worst bills this session, but we know that this fight for our freedom to live and love, without government interference, is far from over.
Thank you for standing with us. Let’s keep going. Democracy depends on it.
For a closer look at the harmful agenda advanced by the 2025 Florida Legislature—click here.