It’s that time of the year again!

Session began a couple of weeks ago now and we have a lot of bills to get through. I’ve broken down the bills I’m watching into six major categories: Healthcare, Feminist Issues, Law Enforcement, AI, BIPOC Issues, and Other/Recurring Bills. This is a long article, summarizing only some of the bills I’m keeping my eyes on.

Let’s start on healthcare matters.

Healthcare

The first bill that caught my eye was one aimed at setting up a task force to design the Health Care for All Florida Plan – SB 348. A 17 member panel will be created with the aim of creating a comprehensive, affordable, and widely available system for all Floridians. This panel will consist of 2 Senators, 2 Representatives, and 13 Governor chosen people, the State Surgeon General (non-voting), Secretary of Business and Professional Regulation (non-voting), and a member of the Florida Association of Counties (non-voting).

Under this bill, the Governor would have to include a diverse set of people for this task force. The bill lays out that he must select individuals familiar with areas such as rural health, social services, public health, and…alternative medicine. 8 of those 13 members must be representatives of health care labor unions. At least 1 member must have written 3 economic analysis of single-payer options at the state level; they are the only member allowed to not be from the state.

They have quite the exhaustive list of things to consider, as one would expect when setting up a healthcare system. That said, none of the work even begins until 2027 and a final report isn’t expected until the beginning to the 2028 legislative session. Well after a new governor has been elected.

While it’s nice to see movement on this, this is only a task force that is seeking to study the effect of enacting a state-wide healthcare plan. Tacked on at the end is a provision that I expect to get stripped: the Agency for Healthcare Administration needs to develop a plan for a Medicaid buy-in program or a public option. Again, it’s something that wouldn’t need to be developed until 2027, and given that this is a lameduck session I would fully expect to see this stripped…if the bill makes it out of committee. Historically, these bills haven’t gained much traction, as seen by previous session attempts to advance state health insurance bills.

Another bill – SB 114 — that I’m watching with some interest is a continuation of care bill. Specifically, it forces insurers to have to provide health care providers and policy holders a written notice of termination of care 60 days in advance. Additionally it must provide up to 6 months of continuing coverage until the policy holder affected has the chance to find a new provider, with the exception for prenatal care which is to be continued until the end of postpartum care.

Lastly, there are two bills this session that would seek to clear up some confusion around credentialing – SB 542 and SB 36. It’s well past time for naturopaths to be held to some kind of licensing board and regulation, so I’m interested to see how that bill ultimately pans out if it gains any traction. Additionally, I’m all for making PhD holders disclose what their PhD is in and no longer claim the “Dr” title if their field of study was not medicine. If nothing else it’s a step in the right direction to get people to consider the educational background of those offering advice.

Additional Healthcare Bills:

Making state employee healthcare options into a marketplace format: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/440

Parental rights in healthcare administration in schools: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/166

Medical diagnosis disclosure in CPS investigations: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/42

Feminist Issues

Turning our attention to feminist issues…we have an interesting set of bills once again aimed mainly at those who can get pregnant.

The biggest bill this session – one that has already had a favorable vote in both the House and Senate Judiciary committees – is a bill aimed at allowing families to seek a wrongful death lawsuit for an “unborn child.” SB 164 does seek, in a rather flimsy way, to protect mothers and medical providers from having a suit brought against them should a birth complication happen or a medical providers “lawful medical care” still result in a loss of life. This also extends to complications that arise as a result of IVF and other reproductive assistance. How this might impact surrogate mothers though is unclear as they’re not specifically listed even though they are mentioned in the related statue the bill references.

As a quick aside comment, the bill literally defines the term “unborn child” as meaning “… a member of the species Homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.” Maybe one day we’ll move away from the emotionally charged language and call a fetus a fetus, but this bill isn’t going to do it.

In all, it’s being reported that this would allow people to sue pregnant people and medical providers for abortions under a wrongful death suit. This is technically true and possible. There are no protections in these cases and all attempts at amending the bill to exclude post-6-week abortions have failed in the House. The bill very clearly states “…lawful medical care provided in compliance with the applicable standard of care”; abortive measures outside of protecting the mother’s life are not considered lawful medical care under current Florida law.

Some notable lobbyists behind this bill are: the Christian Family Coalition (which worked to defeat Amendment 4 – FL’s attempt to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution), the Florida Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates. It’s unclear to me why the last two are supporting this bill, as they list no reasons I can find on their websites, but my guess is that it feels like a step towards some kind of legal protection for providers.

One bill that does give me a modicum of hope for pregnant people is a bill that aims to presumptively add pregnant people to Medicaid for either the maximum allowed time federally or a full Medicaid eligibility determination is made, whichever is soonest. SB 368 also expands their coverage beyond just normal obstetrics and includes any services needed to help manage high-risk pregnancies. It should come as no surprise that this bill, unlike the one previous, was introduced by a Democrat Senator.

While most of the bills relate to pregnancy, there is one bill that older cisgender women who are past their child bearing years could potentially look forward to – SB 190. It isn’t much recognition but the bill in question would seek to set up a policy group focused on perimenopause and menopause. This policy group would be responsible for educating the public on perimenopause and menopause related issues – symptoms, health risks, scientifically accurate information, and helpful ways to communicate to doctors.

Additional Feminist Issues Bills:

Pregnant women in custody: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/172

Repealing pregnancy support and wellness services from the DOH: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/242

Law Enforcement

Moving on to everyone’s least favorite topic, law enforcement. This year we have a few things that I want to keep an eye on and most of them I’m unsure if this is really going to help anything or not.

Note: This blog and its writer do not support ICE/CBP/DHS in any of its actions. The following bill is below the bare minimum action required by our lawmakers to deal with the lawlessness of immigration enforcement. The minimum is to abolish ICE and the DHS, there is no tolerance here for other positions on this matter. Thank you.

First up, ICE. SB 328 – while I don’t love it – does try to address all the issues people have been having with ICE officers as of late: lack of badges, their lawlessness in obtaining records of immigrants, lack of body cams, lack of official vehicle identification, and their face coverings. Additionally, it tries to establish clear guidelines for what counts as proof of citizenship or legal immigration status, while also limiting agencies from handing out that information to ICE/CBP without probable cause.

It’s a hefty bill that aims to do quite a lot. I wont be able to do it justice in a summary, so I highly encourage you to read it for yourself. Essentially, my take away, is that this bill is trying to set-up what should have been set-up when ICE/DHS was created. While I’m happy to see it finally being addressed and I’m glad to see some possibilities for victims to sue for wrongdoing, I don’t have much hope that this bill will make it out of committee.

Remember, this is an election year for FL, and as such this is generally considered a lameduck session. If any of these bills makes it through to become a law it’ll be a small miracle. Or curse, depending on what it is and how you look at it.

Before we move on to the topic of AI, I wanted to bring up one other bill that I’m not a huge fan of. One that I think, in the long term, stigmatizes the use of psychiatric medication/mental health and does not at all address the causes of mass shootings.

When performing an autopsy on a violent offender, SB 54 would require medical examiners in the state to run a toxicology report for any “psychotropic” drugs in the offenders system. They are then to hand over that information to law enforcement. At the same time, this bill would also seek to train educators on the “adverse side effects of psychotropic drugs…including the irrational, violent, or suicidal behavior that may be demonstrated by students under the influence of such drugs…”

While I’m not opposed to educators learning more about how to respond to a student in crisis and de-escalate a situation, I am against the stigmatizing of psychiatric medication as a “psychotropic”. As if using medications designed to help people manage their mental health symptoms is the issue in a mass shooting. It is not, and never will be, the reason why someone shoots up their school. Educators should be educated more on how to de-escalate bullying situations, parents should be educated on modern day cyber-bullying, and students should be provided with better mental health resources to help them navigate difficult emotional states.

I want to make it very clear, this bill equates helpful psychiatric medications such as anti-depressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers with psychotropic drugs like LSD, cocaine, and meth. They are not the same. This is shameful language meant to stigmatize difficult mental health conditions.

Additional Law Enforcement Bills:

Uncompensated security services for places of worship: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/52

Establishing fines for “immigration violations” within the state: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/304

Providing LEO training on how to interact with individuals with autism: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/418

AI

Speaking of mental health – and moving us on to our next topic – there is a bill that would prohibit the use of AI in therapy.

It’s a fairly basic bill. SB 344 would prohibit any licensed mental health provider, their interns, or certificate holder from using AI as an adjunct for therapy. Meaning that in the state of FL, should this bill pass, you wont be seeing your therapist use AI to help with your in-session treatment.

What it would allow, however, is for practitioners to use AI to help with certain administrative tasks. Appointment setting and drafting communications is the most banal uses. It would, however allow your therapist to upload your patient records and billing information to AI services. I don’t know about you, but I don’t personally feel comfortable with my therapist uploading my sensitive clinical notes to a hallucination machine that might decide – while it’s helping my therapist prepare notes – that I’m a harm to myself or others.

Additionally, in an “implement first, ask permission later” strategy, we see a bill aimed at “studying” the cost of implementing AI in state agencies – SB 146. Given that most state agencies – both in FL and across other states – are fully bought into the Microsoft ecosystem, AI has already hit all state agencies since they’re unable to turn CoPilot off. Granted, individual users are able to ignore and not make sure of CoPilot, but I also know that this isn’t the extend of what the bill intends or means.

Keep an eye out for an LLM-powered chat bot coming to a state website near you. Then, get prepared to have you disability/benefits called fraud by a bot, much like what happened in Australia.

BIPOC Issues

But let’s turn our attention to one other major area I’d like to touch on – BIPOC issues.

One good bill that I hope to see move through and be enacted is a bill that would require each school district and college in the state to have a Title VI coordinator on staff – SB 486. For those unfamiliar, Title VI is a part of the Civil Rights Act that prevents racial and national origin discrimination by institutes that receive federal financing assistance. This bill would, in effect, codify a means through which those who feel they’ve been discriminated against could file an official complaint with the help of someone knowledgeable in Civil Rights laws.

This next bill might also confuse some, but it’s a hugely important bill to the preservation on historic Black cemeteries. As of right now, those cemeteries that are designated Historic Cemeteries are unable to sell off excess land in order to help pay for their upkeep costs. Local governments don’t always approve changes to land usage or zoning, making it difficult for these cemeteries to sell off their excess land.

What SB 34 would do is very straightforward. It would compel local governments into approving land use change applications to match “the most permissive land use category and zoning district adjacent to the excess property.” So long as the cemetery is in contract to sell or the process of selling off the excess land, the local government must approve the application.

Additonal BIPOC Issues Bills:

Protecting natural hairstyles in school and workplace settings: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/252

Other Bills

Before wrapping this up, there are a couple of other bills I’d like to highlight in brief.

First up, a bill that would aim to make veterinarians mandatory reporters of animal cruelty – SB 468. While the language in the bill allows for vets to make a report without need to inform pet owners that a report will be filed, it does include an exception for commercial operations and requires the vet to disclose their intent to a farms legal council before filing. I, sadly, don’t have much hope of it passing this session but I think it’s an excellent step in holding animal abusers accountable for their actions.

In the category “The Only Useful Thing Matt Gaetz Has Ever Done”, SB 48 would allow renters to use a re-usable tenant application and allow for homeowners to construct tiny homes to rent. I’ll start with the most useful part of the bill: the re-usable tenant application.

Those who no longer rent may not be aware of how costly tenant applications can be. At $40 or more a pop, if you’re applying to multiple complexes those fees can add up fast. This bill would aim to allow prospective tenants to use a report generated by a “consumer reporting agency” as many times as possible within a 30-day window, without needing to pay a fee each time. Essentially, it would cut into the profits of these consumer report agencies – since that’s ultimately who you’re paying whenever you apply for an apartment.

However, as of January 16^th, that language has been completely stripped from the bill.

So this bill is now entirely focused on allowing home owners the right to build and rent tiny homes on their property, without the city standing in their way. The bill would force local governments to allow home owners to build accessory dwellings “by right”, meaning that so long as the dwelling conforms with zoning requirements, the permits will be approved.

While I’m not against allowing home owners to build additional dwellings on their land – so long as they follow zoning laws – I am disappointed to see the most important and useful part of this bill stripped. The bill has already cleared its other committees and is now sitting in Rules before heading to the Senate floor. Of all the bills we’ve covered, this seems the most likely to make it to the Governor’s desk.

Additional Other Bills:

Interstate Social Worker licensing: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/74

Restoring voting rights of SA and murder offenders: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/132

Prohibiting the use of someone’s gender or sexual identity as a defense in court: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/336

Requiring schools to display George Washington and Abraham Lincoln’s portraits in classrooms from K-5: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/420

Protecting tattletales from adverse effects of the tattling: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/92

Charlie Kirk remembrance day: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/194

And that’s all I think I can reasonably cover this session. Please take a look through the rest of the bills on this list if you’re curious to see what else I will be watching. If there are any bills that you’d like updates on, please let me know in the comments! I do like to know what my readers are engaged with!

With that said, I’ll be back mid-session with an update on how these bills are faring. Given that this session is now being extended because DeSantis would like to redistrict all of Florida in April, it may be a bit until then. I’m going to proceed as if the session wont be extended, since the legality of such a move is up for debate, and will be back by March to update you all.

Until then, stay safe and sane (as best you can in trying times)!