Florida Legislative Bills Report 2/23/26
Two of our supported bills are moving!
| SB 182 | School Teacher Training and Mentoring Program | Reported favorably by first committee, now on agenda of Appropriations Committee on PreK-12 Education for 2/25/26 at 9:30 AM (2nd committee of 3) |
| CS/HB 157 | School Teacher Training and Mentoring Program | Reported favorably by two committees, back to first committee with committee substitute. |
| SB 296 | Victims of Domestic Violence and Dating Violence | Passed by Senate unanimously |
| HB 269 | Victims of Domestic Violence and Dating Violence | Reported favorably by first of 3 committees, now scheduled in State Affairs committee on Tuesday, 2/24/26 at 8:30 AM. |
However, some of our opposed bills are moving too:
| SB 164 | Civil Liability for the Wrongful Death of an Unborn Child | Favorable by first 2 committees, now in Rules but no movement since 1/28/26 |
| HB 289 | Civil Liability for the Wrongful Death of an Unborn Child | Passed House 76-34 |
| HB 221 | Minimum Wage Requirements (companion not moving) | Favorable by first 2 committees, now in Commerce |
| HB 173 | Parental Rights (companion not moving) | Favorable by first committee, now in Judiciary, one more to go |
Also, there are some dreadful bills that we didn’t get on our list that are moving:
| HB 1119 | Materials Harmful to Minors (companion SB 1692 not moving) | Passed the House |
| SB 1632 | Ideologies Inconsistent with American Principles | On schedule of Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice for Wednesday, February 25 at 1:30 pm along with SB 1634. |
| HB 1471 | Systems of Law and Terrorist Organizations (similar to above) | Reported favorably by first two committee, one to go (Judiciary, not scheduled yet) |
Materials Harmful to Minors: This is an expansion of book banning legislation that specifies that “literary, artistic, political, or scientific value” may not be considered in decisions of whether to remove materials from schools if they contain “materials harmful to minors”. The state would be required to monitor school districts and may withhold funds if they are found not to be in compliance. Nudity and sexual excitement are included among the materials harmful to minors. The former is in a lot of classic art and the latter is very subjective.
Ideologies and Systems (SB 1632 and HB 1471): one of the purposes of these bills is to prohibit Sharia law, a frequent faux target, but they go much farther. They authorize the Chief of Domestic Security (under FDLE) to identify groups that are to be considered domestic terrorist organizations. A related bill, SB 1634, exempts any information collected by the Chief of Domestic Security and furnished to the Governor from the Sunshine Law (s. 119.07).
If an organization “intimidates or coerces” citizens or governments, it can be considered a terrorist organization. Could carrying signs and shouting slogans be considered “intimidation”? The phrase “domestic terrorist organization” is added to many provisions of existing law alongside “foreign terrorist organization”. Anyone who supports such groups or belongs to one of these groups would be subject to felony prosecution. There are severe penalties for college students who “promote a designated foreign terrorist organization or domestic terrorist organization.” Much of the language in these bills is extremely arbitrary and quite dangerous for anyone belonging to a social justice organization, and in itself intimidates any organization seeking to “petition the government for redress of grievances.” (First Amendment)
AAUW Advocacy in Florida 