Legislative Advocacy

Tomorrow, March 4, 2025, marks the official start of the 2025 Florida Legislative Session. Over the next 60 days, lawmakers will convene in Tallahassee to craft policy and pass the state budget. As we prepare for what’s ahead, it’s important to reflect on last year’s session to understand the context in which this year’s decisions will be made.

The 2024 Legislative Session, which ended on March 8, 2024, was yet another missed opportunity to address the real challenges facing Floridians. Instead of focusing on affordable housing, healthcare, meaningful criminal justice and insurance reform, and investments in public education, the Republican-controlled Legislature continued waging culture wars, attacking the history and experiences of marginalized communities, and using policy decisions to score political points. Efforts to protect our democracy, such as passing the Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Florida Voting Rights Act, were ignored, leaving critical issues unresolved.

Now, as the 2025 session begins, early signs indicate another tumultuous legislative cycle. Typically, around 3,000 bills are filed during a session, with most introduced during committee weeks. However, this year has been an exception, with just over 1,300 bills filed—an unusually low number that, combined with the three special sessions already held this year, suggests a challenging road ahead. Rather than debating a high volume of bills during committee weeks, lawmakers instead heard presentations from state agencies on proposed budgets, legislative priorities, and policy updates from previous sessions.

With so much at stake for our communities, Equal Ground remains committed to keeping you informed throughout the session. We will provide weekly newsletters with updates, analysis, and links to critical resources so you can stay engaged. We encourage you to use this information as a tool to advocate for the policies that matter most to you.

Stay tuned as we track key developments and provide insights on the legislative decisions that will shape Florida’s future.

 

This year we have hired a full-time Legislative Associate to help us navigate the upcoming Legislative Session. Her name is Melanie Andrade Williams and she has over a decade of experience in public policy, politics, and local government. She brings a deep understanding of how to build strategic coalitions that empower organizations to transform the lives of vulnerable communities. She is excited to join the team and will be a valuable asset to Equal Ground an our partners throughout the legislative session. You can read more about her HERE. If you have any questions or insight, her email is melanie@equal-ground.com.

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During the legislative session, we help keep our community informed by producing a weekly newsletter that provides subscribers with the latest updates on priority bills and developments in Tallahassee. 

 

We have archived previous newsletters below for your review:

2025 Florida Legislative Session Update - Week 1

2025 Florida Legislative Session Update - Week 2

 

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