TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Lawmakers often save their most important issues for the final days of the annual legislative session. Florida is raising the age for strippers to 21 this year.
Oh, and we also passed a $117 billion state budget.
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But unlike the past two years, when Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis was gearing up for the presidential race, he didn’t ask Congress for much. This year, there were fewer divisive bills addressing issues like abortion, guns, racism and LGBTQ+ rights, with an emphasis on the priorities of House Speaker Paul Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo.
Still, DeSantis joined Republican leaders in declaring victory after the 60-day annual session ended early Friday afternoon.
Florida used the last day of Congress to pass a $117 billion budget. (Fox News)
“Everything we set out to do has been accomplished. We’ve fulfilled our promises 100 percent. All of our important items,” DeSantis said, including issues such as teacher raises and commuting. He cited fee reductions. “We got everything we wanted and then some.”
However, as the governor reflected on his successes, he primarily discussed the past several years rather than the 2024 session. After a two-year whirlwind of polarizing legislation that gave Mr. DeSantis plenty of conservative red meat for his presidential campaign, Congress is relatively calm and the governor has become visibly quieter. .
“The big difference between this Congress and the past two Congresses is that Governor DeSantis wasn’t highly rated. I think he was trying to figure out how to recover from the failure of his presidential campaign,” the Democratic Party said. the House of Representatives said. said leader Fentris Driskell.
In a bipartisan effort, the $117 billion budget passed unanimously in the Senate and 105-3 in the House, with one Republican and two Democrats voting to provide a 3% raise for all state employees. opposed the plan.
Mr. DeSantis spent half of the session out of state, campaigning for president in states such as Iowa and New Hampshire. By the time DeSantis withdrew from the race, the Republican-controlled Legislature was on track to end the race early, with little interference from the governor.
Renner’s top priority was a bill to restrict minors’ access to social media, which he ultimately pushed forward in the final week. The bill would ban social media accounts for children and youth under the age of 14, and require parental permission for 15 and 16-year-olds. .
Mr. DeSantis vetoed the initial social media ban on minors, but later worked with Mr. Renner on agreeable language.
Passidomo successfully passed his top priority, a series of bills that streamline regulations and provide incentives to improve access to health care.
Lawmakers also advocated for everything from allowing schools to create voluntary chaplain programs to defining anti-Semitism in law to requiring Floridians to kill bears that pose a threat to residents’ homes or property. passed the bill.
“It’s a really, really hardcore controversial bill, and I can’t think of anything other than a social media bill, and that was vetoed — and of course we passed a lighter version of it,” the Democrat said. Sen. Bobby Powell noted that a proposal to protect Confederate monuments was one of the divisive bills that died.
Strippers, on the other hand, like other workers at adult entertainment establishments such as strip clubs and dishwashers, must wait until they turn 21 to seek employment.
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There was little progress on education this year, but lawmakers loosened child labor laws to allow home-educated children to work longer hours and later hours.
“How crazy is it?” Democratic Sen. Bobby Powell said of the new labor law.
