ORLANDO, Fla. – The annual Florida Legislative Session gets underway Tuesday, and our state representatives are looking to pass bills on everything from help for people with disabilities to preventing pool drownings to mental health care for teachers.
Thirty-three state representatives (25 Republicans and eight Democrats) represent Central Florida voters in Tallahassee during the session. Each representative can only file seven bills.
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Getting a bill passed isn’t easy. Lawmakers need to get their bills on committee schedules, convince other lawmakers to support them, and get the bills heard and voted on. They also need to get members of the Florida Senate to sponsor a companion bill in their chamber.
Lawmakers often see decent bills die because they run out of time. Sometimes, it takes years to get a bill through the legislature.
We contacted all of our Central Florida state representatives and asked them what bills they hoped to pass this year and what issues they hoped the legislature would prioritize. Here are the responses we got.
To see the bills Central Florida’s state senators are sponsoring this session, click on this story.
[RELATED: How to find, contact your Florida state senators or representatives]
State Rep. Susan Plasencia, R-District 37
Representing Orange and Seminole counties
State Rep. Susan Plasencia was not able to sit down with News 6 to talk about her legislative priorities, but she did send us a statement to publish:
“My top priorities for the 2025 Legislative Session are property insurance and condo association reform. Going into my third session, I maintain my promise to my constituents that I will represent their interests on those issues in Tallahassee. I am also working hard on several health care reforms as the Health & Human Services Committee (vice) chair, including a bill that will allow families to keep ’granny cams' in their loved ones' rooms at assisted living facilities and nursing homes.”
In addition to being vice chair for the House Health and Human Services Committee, Plasencia is also vice chair of the Civil Justice and Claims Subcommittee.
You can see all of Plasencia’s bills by going to her page on the Florida House website.
State Rep. Dr. Anna Eskamani, D-District 42
Representing Orange County
"This year, we are working on legislation that has big impact,“ said State Rep. Dr. Anna Eskamani. ”It doesn’t require huge budget requests or even multiple committee staffs. Really trying to focus on areas of vulnerable communities where we can make a big difference."
Among Eskamani’s proposals is HB 215, which provides help to small businesses affected by construction projects, particularly projects that lead to road closures. Eskamani wrote the bill with State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith.
"We’ve seen in the Orlando area and surrounding communities across the state where you have these major infrastructure project, which are needed, but unfortunately, in the timeline of their implementation and with delays, the small businesses struggle and consumers can’t access or small businesses, and some have even closed in the face of these construction projects," Eskamani said.
HB 345, which is the House companion to a similar bill filed by State Sen. Kristen Arrington, would require schools to come up with plans for when a student who has autism wanders away.
“The student elopement bill is 100% from constituents, working with the Autism Society in Greater Orlando. This has been an issue of great concern for years now. It has a lot of great support from different stakeholders.”
Eskamani also wants to try and tackle the issue of event ticket sales with HB 297. The bill would make sure that buyers are made aware of all fees at the beginning of the ticket purchase.
"And it also goes after these resellers that are very exploitative and jacking up the prices of tickets by buying them in bulk and then reselling them later," Eskamani said.
Eskamani is also hoping the legislature reevaluates condo safety laws that have driven up costs for owners and looks at rolling back the state’s six-week abortion ban.
Eskamani is the Democratic ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which is looking at making sure tax exemptions in the state apply to more Floridians.
You can see all of Eskamani’s bills by going to her page on the Florida House website.
State Rep. Johanna López, D-District 43
Representing Orange County
State Rep. Johanna López is trying again this year to get two bills passed that she is passionate about.
The first is HB 6017, which will allow the adult children of parents killed as a result of medical negligence to get pain and suffering awards.
“We are the only state in the nation that we cannot recover from pain and suffering in case of death,” López said. “And I think that it’s time for us to be part of the nation, this is something that needs to be done.”
López was inspired to sponsor the bill by a resident who had lost her father and was not granted any type of monetary compensation for his death.
López has also refiled HB 93, which would require existing homes to have some type of pool safety feature when it goes up for sale, as a way to help prevent drownings. This bill was also inspired by a Central Florida resident.
"The bill mentioned five features; the person who is selling the house or buying the house can make sure that they have one of those," López said. “One is a barrier, a pool barrier, and another one is a pool cover. The other one is a self-latching gate, pool alarm, or floating pool alarm. So one of them is OK.
López is also trying to get HB 99 passed. This bill would allow school districts to provide options for the state math assessments in languages other than English. The option is already available for the English assessments.
"I had the conversation with the executive director of the multilingual department of Orange County Public Schools who told me, ‘listen, everyone is going to be in favor of this because we want our students to pass. We don’t want our students to fail,' and they have proof that when they have other options with the math, they pass," López said.
López also filed HB 619. This bill allows tenants to terminate a rental agreement if they need to leave because of domestic, dating, or sexual violence, or stalking.
López is also the Democratic ranking member of the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee.
You can see all of López’s bills by going to her page on the Florida House website.
State Rep. Rita Harris, D-District 44
Representing Orange County
“Being one of 33 in a House of 120, I want to accomplish as much as I can as far as where our bills go,” said State Rep. Rita Harris. “I want to ensure that our bills pass the finish line. But at the end of the day, I’m here to fight for my community. I’m here to stand up for them."
Harris has a few bills she is working on this session to address those needs. HB 1373 creates a Medicaid buy-in program for people with disabilities.
“It simply allows people with disabilities to buy into Medicaid,” Harris said. “Unfortunately, people with disabilities, especially those that have severe disabilities that need special services, they are forced to stay under a certain income threshold in order to continue to receive their services. So, therefore, they are kind of boxed out of making more money. So I just think it makes sense economically to allow people to buy into these services.”
Harris is also sponsoring HB 1471, which she’s calling the “Keep Floridians Housed Act.”
The omnibus package does a number of things to improve tenant rights in the state. It creates a Department of Housing and Tenant Rights to coordinate efforts to have affordable housing and fight homelessness. It cracks down on large security deposits for rental properties and gets rid of fees to apply for rental properties, such as application or tenant screening fees. It also requires landlords to give a tenant 60 days' notice if they decide not to extend or renew a rental agreement and prohibits landlords from ending a rental agreement for cause during a state of emergency.
It also creates a tax credit program for turning retail space into residences and creates an affordable home construction loan program.
Finally, the bill also prevents corporations from buying up homes in a neighborhood to rent them out.
“It is really still a point of concern for so many Central Floridians and Floridians overall that, you know, I think that we’ve done some, but we really want to do more,” Harris said.
Another priority for Harris is HB 1195, which would increase testing for fentanyl at hospitals. Harris says the bill came from a resident who lost her son to a drug overdose because he didn’t realize the drug contained fentanyl.
“It is a bipartisan issue that’s impacting all of Florida. No matter if you’re in a rural area or if you’re in a city, you hear these stories, and they’re heartbreaking,” Harris said.
Harris is also the Democratic ranking member of the House State Administration Budget Subcommittee.
You can see all of Harris' bills by going to her page on the Florida House website.
State Rep. Paula Stark, R-District 47
Representing Orange and Osceola counties
State Rep. Paula Stark scored a win last year with HB 613, which provided help for mobile home residents dealing with takeovers of their communities by corporations.
Stark wants to do more.
HB 701 would allow more people in mobile home communities to apply for rental assistance, which they weren’t able to do before.
“We have this huge affordable housing issue that everybody wants to talk about. And then we throw all this state money out. And yet we have this huge affordable housing industry that we’re just not taking care of,“ Stark said. ”So it just needs to continue to be on the radar."
Stark is also sponsoring HB 1273, which would create a program to better train law enforcement on how to help people with autism spectrum disorder.
“We’re working with FDLE currently not to make sure that the language is going to be OK with them,” Stark said. “We’re adding that training for autism awareness would be law enforcement and correctional facilities.”
Stark sponsored the same bill last year, but it didn’t make it through the session, getting stuck in committee.
Stark is also hoping to get HB 1151, known as Marley’s Bill, through this session. The bill would provide mental health services for teachers, including mental health days, and it was brought forth as part of an Osceola County School program where students submit ideas for bills called “Build a Bill.”
“It’s amazing to us with Build a Bill and the students that were talking about the different issues that were important to them. Four out of five of them had to do with teachers,” Stark said. “Either teacher pay or the health status of their teachers.”
Stark is also hoping to push budget appropriations to fix the hydrilla problem in North Lake Toho and get money for the Cross Prairie Parkway to help traffic between Kissimmee and St. Cloud.
Stark is the vice chair of the House Transportation and Economic Development Budget Subcommittee.
You can see all of Stark’s bills by going to her page on the Florida House website.
Other Central Florida state representatives
You can see the bills filed by the rest of Central Florida’s state representatives by clicking on the links to their Florida House member pages.
State Rep. Sam Greco, R-District 19
Representing Flagler County.
State Rep. Judson Sapp, R-District 20
Representing part of Marion County.
State Rep. Yvonne Hinson, D-District 21
Representing part of Marion County. Hinson is the Democratic ranking member of the House Education and Employment Committee.
State Rep. J.J. Grow, R-District 23
Representing part of Marion County.
State Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, R-District 24
Representing part of Marion County.
State Rep. Taylor Yarkosky, R-District 25
Representing part of Lake County. Yarkosky is vice chair of the House Education and Employment Committee.
State Rep. Nan Cobb, R-District 26
Representing part of Lake County.
State Rep. Richard Gentry, R-District 27
Representing parts of Lake, Marion and Volusia counties.
State Rep. Bill Partington, R-District 28
Representing part of Volusia County.
State Rep. Webster Barnaby, R-District 29
Representing part of Volusia County. Barnaby is vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee and the Criminal Justice Subcommittee.
State Rep. Chase Tramont, R-District 30
Representing parts of Brevard and Volusia counties. Tramont is the Republican Committee Whip for the House Commerce Committee.
State Rep. Tyler Sirois, R-District 31
Representing part of Brevard County. Sirois is also the chair of the House Security and Threat Assessment Committee.
State Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R-District 32
Representing part of Brevard County.
State Rep. Monique Miller, R-District 33
Representing part of Brevard County
State Rep. Robert A. Brackett, R-District 34
Representing part of Brevard County. Brackett is the Republican Committee Whip for the House Health and Human Services Committee.
State Rep. Erika Booth, R-District 35
Representing parts of Orange and Osceola counties.
State Rep. Rachel Plakon, R-District 36
Representing part of Seminole County. Plakon is vice chair of the House Careers and Workforce Subcommittee.
State Rep. David Smith, R-District 38
Representing part of Seminole County. Smith is the alternating chair of the House Joint Committee on Public Counsel Oversight.
State Rep. Doug Bankson, R-District 39
Representing parts of Orange and Seminole counties. Bankson is the vice chair of the House Student Academic Success Subcommittee.
State Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis, D-District 40
Representing part of Orange County. Davis is the Democratic ranking member of the House Information Technology Budget and Policy Subcommittee.
State Rep. Bruce Antone, D-District 41
Representing part of Orange County. Antone is the Democratic ranking member of the House Industries and Professional Activities Subcommittee and the Student Academic Success Subcommittee.
State Rep. Leonard Spencer, D-District 45
Representing parts of Orange and Osceola counties.
State Rep. Jose Alvarez, D-District 46
Representing part of Osceola County.
State Rep. John Temple, R-District 52
Representing Sumter County. Temple is vice chair of the House Health Professions and Programs Subcommittee.