Florida’s 2025 Legislative Session Recap: The Supermajority’s Harmful Legislative Agenda

During the 2025 Legislative Session, we tracked hundreds of bills, advocated directly with lawmakers, issued calls to action, submitted written testimony, and attended and spoke at committee hearings, rallies, roundtables, and press conferences. We held routine town halls on critical civil liberties issues, informed reporters and editorial boards, and spread awareness on social media.

But ultimately, it was with your help, we were able to stop so many of the below bills, and more were stopped in their tracks.

JUMP TO A SECTION:

Attacks on Free Speech | Attacks on Voting |

Attacks on Reproductive Freedom |

Attacks on Immigrants | Blocked Bills

Censoring Media Outlets and Reporters - SB 752 (Sen. Simon)/HB 667 (Rep. Grow)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• These bills would have censored media outlets and undermined the First Amendment rights of the press and reporters. They would have made it easier to sue and prevail in defamation cases against media outlets and abolished the “fair reporting privilege” in certain circumstances.
• Outcome: Failed

Banning “Political Viewpoint” Flags - SB 100 (Sen. Fine)/HB 75 (Rep. Borrero)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• These overly broad bills would have banned government buildings (including local and state agencies, and public schools and universities) from displaying any flags (of any size) inside or outside of their building representing a “political viewpoint,” including any “racial, sexual orientation and gender” viewpoint (e.g., Pride flags and Black Lives Matter flags).
• Outcome: Failed

Government Censorship of Ideas and Viewpoints - HB 731 (Rep. Melo)/SB 1710 (Sen. DiCeglie)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• These bills would have banned diversity, equity, and inclusion in state agencies and prohibited funding for DEI. Additionally, it would have prohibited health care-related licensing organizations from adopting or promoting diversity, equity, or inclusion materials, programming, and training.
• Outcome: Failed

Banning Diversity in Local Governments - HB 1571 (Rep. Black)/SB 420 (Sen. Yarborough)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• These bills would have prohibited local governments from enacting diversity, equity, and inclusion-related policies, ordinances, or resolutions, and subjected local officials to removal from office for their support of diversity. This outrageous state overreach would have censored local governments and restricted their ability to respond to community needs and priorities.
• Outcome: Failed

Regulating Pronoun Use in the Workplace (“Don’t Say Gay or Trans at Work 2.0”) - HB 1495 (Rep. Plakon)/SB 440 - (Sen. McClain)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• These bills essentially created a license to discriminate against trans individuals in public and certain private workplaces. The bills would have shielded employees from accountability for anti-trans harassment and intentional misgendering. The bill also prohibited LGBTQ-related cultural competency training requirements for government workers.
• Outcome: Failed

Censoring Topics Related to Race and Gender in Teacher Training Programs -HB 875 (Rep. Rizo)/SB 1590 (Sen. Burgess)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• This legislation bans “identity politics” and topics outlined in 1000.05, Florida Statutes, regarding systemic racism, sexism, and oppression from any “uniform core curriculum” created for use in higher education teacher training programs. Note: a federal court has enjoined a previous law that sought to censor these discussion topics in higher education.
• Outcome: Passed (pending the Governor's signature)

Expanding Book Bans - HB 1539 (Rep. Bankson)/SB 1692 (Sen. McClain) -

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• These overly broad government censorship bills would have resulted in more books being banned from K-12 schools. This legislation, if passed, would have expanded book bans to include books that contain serious literary, political, artistic, or scientific value for minors.
• Outcome: Failed

Censoring Political and Social Activism in K-12 Schools and Compelling Speech - HB 1255 (Rep. Trabulsy)/SB 1618 (Sen. Calatayud)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• These overly broad and vague bills would have censored students from engaging in social and political activism at school by defunding these efforts. The legislation also would have compelled schools to deliver medically inaccurate viewpoints (i.e, “Baby Olivia” anti-abortion video) regarding fetal development.
• Outcome: The worst provisions were removed from the bill before its passage

Infringing Privacy and Speech of Minors on Social Media - SB 868 (Sen. Ingoglia)/HB 743 (Rep. Salzman)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• This legislation would have allowed law enforcement to decrypt social media messages without a warrant, compelled disclosure of minors’ private messages to parents, and banned minors from accessing certain social media platforms even if their parents wanted them to have access to those platforms.
• Outcome: Failed

Defunding Entities that Boycott Israel - HB 1519 (Rep. Cassel)/SB 1678 (Sen. Leek)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• This overly broad legislation defunds entities, including nonprofits and academic institutions, that boycott Israel. Raises concerns regarding viewpoint discrimination and free speech.
• Outcome: Passed (not yet sent to the Governor)

Censorship Public Libraries and Art Grant Funding - SB 1524 (Sen. Grall)/HB 1011 (Rep. LaMarca)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• This overly broad legislation would have banned books at public libraries and censored and defunded cultural programming and works of art that expressed or depicted sexual conduct, as defined in statute.
• Outcome: Failed

Attacking Citizen-Led Amendments - HB 1205 (Rep. Persons-Mulicka)/SB 7016 (Sen. Ingoglia)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• Sweeping bill undermining citizen-led amendments and preventing Floridians from having a say in the policies that shape our lives. Among other things, it prohibits volunteers from collecting more than 25 petitions, shortens the time frame to turn in petitions from 30 days to 10 days, and significantly increases penalties and fines for sponsors so that only the most well-funded special interests will be able to sponsor amendments in the future.
• Outcome: Passed (signed by Governor)

Creating Unnecessary Barriers for Registering to Vote - HB 1381 (Rep. Persons-Mulicka)/SB 1414 (Sen. Ingoglia)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• Requiring documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration. Placing a “Scarlet Letter” on all state IDs outing Floridians who are navigating our immigration system by marking IDs with a “non-citizen” identifier.
• Outcome: Failed

Civil Liability for Abortions - SB 1284 (Sen. Grall)/HB 1517 (Rep. Greco)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• These dangerous bills would have opened the door for civil lawsuits for damages against healthcare providers that provide abortion care and against the friends and family members of individuals who accessed an abortion. No one should be subject to a lawsuit for damages for helping a family member or friend access critical abortion care. If passed, these bills would have treated fertilized eggs, fetuses, and embryos the same as actual living children, with devastating consequences for pregnant patients.
• Outcome: Failed

Making it Harder to Access Birth Control and Prohibiting Doctors From Treating Minors with STIs - SB 1288 (Sen. Grall)/HB 1505 (Rep. Plakon)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• This legislation, if passed, would have restricted young people from accessing birth control and prevented healthcare providers from treating minors with STIs.
• Outcome: Failed

Supporting Trump’s Inhumane Mass Deportation Agenda - SB 2C and 4C, Special Session (Sen. Gruters/Rep. McClure)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• These inhumane anti-immigrant bills diverted $300 million in taxpayer funding to support Trump’s cruel mass deportation agenda; repealed in-state tuition waivers for Floridians navigating their immigration status; and increased criminal penalties and fines, and fees for immigrants. The bills unconstitutionally create a state crime for undocumented immigrants to enter Florida and mandate the death penalty for capital offenses.
• Outcome: Passed during 2025 Special Session and signed into law Feb. 13, 2025

Expanding Anti-Immigrant E-Verify - HB 955 (Jacques)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• This bill, if passed, would have harmed small businesses and hardworking Floridians by expanding the error-prone E-Verify to include employers with under 25 employees.
• Outcome: Failed

Gutting Child Labor Protections and Exploiting Minors - HB 1225 (Rep. Miller)/SB 918 (Sen. Collins)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• This bill, if passed, would have rolled back decades of child labor protections and enabled employers to exploit young workers.
• Outcome: Failed

Revoking Florida Lawyers’ License to Practice Law if Citizenship is Pending - HB 465 (Rep. Mayfield)/SB 1052 (Sen. Gruters)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• The bills would have revoked Floridians’ license to practice law for lawyers who are unable to finalize their U.S. Citizenship status by Nov. 1, 2028.
• Outcome: Failed

Paying Less Than the Constitutionally Mandated Minimum Wage - SB 676 (Sen. Martin)/HB 541 (Rep. Chamberlin)

• ACLU FL Position: Opposed
• These bills would have violated Florida’s constitutional minimum wage protections and allowed employers to exploit workers and pay them less than the constitutionally required minimum wage.
• Outcome: Failed

Below are just a few of the many bills that would have improved the lives of Floridians and that the Florida Legislature refused to hear:

Repealing Florida’s Extreme Abortion Ban - SB 870 (Sen. Davis)/ HB 1139 (Rep. Driskell)

• ACLU FL Position: Supported
• These bills would have repealed Florida’s extreme abortion ban that makes it nearly impossible for pregnant individuals to access abortion care. Fifty-seven percent of Floridians voted to pass a constitutional amendment limiting government interference prior to viability (the point in time where the fetus is sustainable outside the womb through standard medical measures). This bill would simply have codified what the vast majority of Floridians voted for. Watch the press conference regarding this critical legislation.
• Outcome: Supermajority blocked

Clarifying Medical Exceptions - SB 288(Sen. Polsky)/HB 1573 (Rep. Driskell)

• ACLU FL Position: Supported
• This legislation, if passed, would have clarified current unworkable medical exceptions to ensure that patients are not forced to carry nonviable pregnancies to term.
• Outcome: Supermajority blocked

The Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Florida Voting Rights Act - SB 1582 (Sen. Davis) /HB 1409 (Rep. Bracy Davis)

• ACLU FL Position: Supported
• This voter protection legislation, if passed, would have expanded access to voting for eligible voters and solidified key federal protections in the 1965 Voting Rights Act that have been eroded over the past decade by the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Outcome: Supermajority blocked

NOTE: The above bills and additional information on how your elected officials voted on these bills can be found on the Florida Senate and Florida House websites.