Hard Work Remains Following Conclusion of 2025 Regular Legislative Session in which Local Businesses & Consumers Prevail 

Florida’s Regular Legislative Session by the Numbers:

• 1,951 Bills and PCBs filed; approximately 245 bills passed both chambers
• Florida Chamber of Commerce testified over 150 times on legislation impacting job creators
• Florida Chamber is analyzing approximately 5,000 regular session votes cast by lawmakers and will release its annual Legislative Report Card with our forthcoming How They Voted publication
• $4.4 billion difference in House and Senate budgets, requiring the legislature to return to finish the budget and other items

TALLAHASSEE, FL (May 2, 2025) — The 2025 Florida Regular Legislative Session saw the passage of several Florida Chamber priorities and the defeat of anti-business legislation to continue Florida’s economic momentum toward a top 10 global economy by 2030. As the 60-day regular session concludes, Florida local businesses and consumers are ultimately the winners with the advancement of legislation to protect Florida’s Constitution, grow a globally competitive workforce, and address affordability challenges.

“Florida remains the national model for economic growth, quality of life and competitiveness,” said Mark Wilson, President & CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce. “Free enterprise isn’t free, and the Florida Chamber thanks Governor Ron DeSantis and many in the Legislature for helping move the Florida Chamber’s competitiveness agenda forward and preventing legislation that would significantly increase litigation from making it across the finish line.”

The Florida Chamber continues to unite the business community to defend the progress made and continue the momentum gathered over the last few years toward long-standing policy priorities contained within the Florida 2030 Blueprint to make Florida more competitive.

“When the business community unites through the Florida Chamber, like it did again this year, it’s amazing what we are able to accomplish. I’d like to thank Florida Chamber members, local chambers of commerce and trade associations who joined with us to ensure Florida remains economically competitive,” said Keith Koenig, Chairman of CITY Furniture and Volunteer Chair of the Florida Chamber of Commerce. “Advancing the Florida 2030 Blueprint remains our focus and, on behalf of the Board of Directors and members of the Florida Chamber, I’d like to thank all of our partners and allies who have continued to work with us on ensuring the right things happen in Florida to help local businesses keep growing and diversifying Florida’s economy.”

One of the Florida Chamber’s top priorities this legislative session was to continue efforts to protect Florida’s Constitution from out-of-state and special interests seeking to buy their way onto our state’s foundational document. The subject of many paid petition initiatives could be better achieved by the more transparent and accountable legislative process. The Florida Chamber has a long history of supporting reforms to the so-called citizens’ initiative process to prevent near permanent changes by those seeking to circumvent the legislative process, which can more easily adjust to changing circumstances as knowledge improves, demographics change, or policy preferences shift. The need for additional reforms became apparent with a 942-page report from the Office of Election Crimes and Security that demonstrated extremely concerning levels of petition fraud leading up to the 2024 election. In response, HB 1205 enhances transparency and accountability requirements around the paid petition process, including requiring paid petition gatherers to be Florida residents, providing more information to voters about the effect of a proposed initiative, and increasing penalties for violations, including fraud.

Below are highlights of additional Florida Chamber-championed legislative priorities that passed this session, with a full legislative session recap linked below:

• Continuing to Address Affordable Workforce Housing Challenges: Continues the work the Florida legislature began two years ago with Live Local to reduce bureaucratic hurdles to encourage the development of more affordable workforce housing options so Floridians can live in the communities in which they work.
• Creating Certainty in Permitting Processes: Promotes certainty and improves communication between local governments and applicants by clarifying the roles of local authorities and streamlining the bureaucratic process associated with zoning and development applications by setting clear requirements and deadlines.
• Increasing Access to Early Learning and Child Care: Expands eligibility into the state School Readiness Program, or the state’s early learning tuition assistance program, and reduces bureaucratic hurdles that increase the cost of child care and limit availability, but do not increase safety or educational quality. According to the Untapped Potential in FL report, Florida loses nearly $5.4 billion in economic value due to working parents having to be away from their jobs while caring for children under the age of six.
• Boosting Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeship Opportunities: Promotes access and the creation of apprenticeship and preapprenticeship programs by establishing model standards and contracts, improving effectiveness and utilization. The Florida Chamber Foundation Future of Work Florida initiative seeks to increase awareness and preparedness for high-demand and high-wage careers in Florida. Apprenticeships are a powerful way to grow talent and create real pathways to opportunity while fueling local workforce development.
• Continuing Florida’s Leadership in Space & Aerospace: Expands international relationships in space and aerospace research through the establishment of the International Aerospace Innovation Fund with a focus on collaborative research and development projects, workforce development initiatives, and commercialization efforts in critical technology areas.
• Furthering Florida’s Agricultural Industry: Proposes a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot to eliminate the ad valorem tax on ag production equipment found on agricultural land, benefitting farmers who are essential to Florida and the nation’s food supply.
• Diversifying Florida’s Energy Supply: Promotes the development of renewable energy sources in Florida, which can lead to less reliance on foreign oil and gas or nonrenewable energy sources, through the creation of a new experimental cost recovery provision.

While numerous Florida Chamber-backed, pro-Florida measures passed, several threats to local businesses emerged during session. The Florida Chamber successfully defeated or worked to mitigate efforts to drive additional litigation, create regulatory uncertainty, or increase costs on Florida businesses and families. Specifically, legislation seeking to unwind the progress made with the landmark 2022 and 2023 lawsuit abuse reforms was defeated, allowing these successful reforms to continue stabilizing insurance markets and lessening tort taxes for Florida families and local businesses.

“The Florida Chamber team advocated all session for the policies necessary across all Six Pillars to continue Florida’s momentum towards becoming a top 10 global economy,” said Frank Walker, Executive Vice President of Government and Political Relations. “Uniting the business community around a common agenda also led to the defeat of misguided efforts to unwind prior progress and take our state’s competitiveness backwards.”

Further work remains on important competitiveness issues during future sessions to secure Florida’s future, from ending the Florida-only business rent tax to addressing Florida’s highest-in-the-nation medical malpractice rates to making long-term investments in securing Florida as the world’s number one site for mega data centers to ensuring the development of a globally competitive workforce.

The Florida Chamber team is analyzing thousands of votes and will release its annual Legislative Report Card with its annual publication How They Voted, showcasing grades earned by all 157 legislators in the Florida House and Senate based on their votes during the 2025 Legislative Session. The Florida Chamber Legislative Report Card is an annual opportunity to recognize members of the Florida Legislature who placed making Florida more competitive through private-sector job creation above special interests and their attempts to protect the status quo. The Report Card also lets Florida families, small businesses, taxpayers, and voters know who voted in favor of private-sector job creation and a stronger economy.

To view the Florida Chamber’s full legislative review of what passed, what was defeated, and what remains unfinished business at the conclusion of the 60-day regular legislative session, click here.