The 2023 Legislative Session has arrived in the Free state of Florida! Opening this past Tuesday, March 7th, House Speaker Paul Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo began the proceedings within their respective chambers. This was followed by a joint session in the House Chamber where Governor Ron DeSantis gave the annual State of the State address, delivering powerful statements on the right to life, protecting children from sexualization, empowering parental rights, and promoting school choice.
A unique and historic highlight was Governor DeSantis recognizing Chloe Cole in the chamber who sat next to First Lady Casey DeSantis. Chloe is a formerly trans teenager, who took testosterone and puberty blockers at age 13, underwent a double mastectomy at age 15, and started de-transitioning at age 16. She is now a powerful advocate for protecting children like her from such harmful and dangerous procedures. She will be the speaker at our Pro-Life, Pro-Family Days event on March 27-28 in Tallahassee. Sign up for that event here:
We at FFPC are thrilled about the 2023 session and believe we truly are approaching one of the most exciting and fruitful sessions in recent history, even in light of the incredible victories of the last few sessions. Leading the list of our priority bills is the Heartbeat bill, which would protect pre-born babies after 6 weeks of pregnancy. Also, top on the agenda is enshrining Medical Rights of Conscience and Free Speech for Healthcare Professionals in state law. This would protect doctors’, nurses’, and pharmacists’ speech and conduct when they refuse to perform medical procedures which they consider immoral or unethical like abortion, trans surgeries, or when expressing dissenting viewpoints like COVID treatments. We will also see the furthering of expanding Parent’s Rights in Education and protecting children from sexualization and indoctrination. We will also see bills protecting children from being exposed to adult entertainment in public businesses like drag queen strip shows and other inappropriate conduct.
Below we have listed for you our top good and bad bills. The Florida Family Policy Council is tracking all of these and others on our agenda in this session. With the name and number of the bill is also a summary of each and links to each bill’s text. You can always keep track of all of our priority bills on our website, which will be updated as new priorities arise.
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Thank you again for your support,
John Stemberger
President
Abortion/Life Issues
SUPPORT 1. HB 7/SB 300 Heartbeat Protection Act (Rep. Persons-Mulicka/Sen. Grall)
Description: The proposal protects the unborn after 6 weeks, the time period at which a heartbeat can be detected, the strongest protections for the unborn in Florida post-Roe. Secondly, the legislation also prohibits state funding to be used for transporting mothers out of state to receive abortions. Thirdly, the bill prohibits the mailing of chemical abortion prescriptions and that a doctor must be present in person to prescribe such medications and to perform surgical abortions, cutting off the ability of clinics to use non-medical staff to conduct abortions or use telehealth to prescribe those abortion drugs. Finally, the bill expands support for the Florida Pregnancy Care Network, providing needed resources for mothers in unexpectant pregnancies.
Action: Both bills have been assigned to only two committees each, indicating leadership prioritization and are awaiting their first hearings.
SUPPORT 2. HB 1339/SB 1306 Adoptive Parent Registry Act (Rep. Abbott/Sen. Harrell)
Description: This bill seeks to create a potential adoption registry of prospective parents who have been vetted properly and are awaiting adoption opportunities for newborn babies surrendered for adoption. The goal of the legislation is to create a streamlined process for the adoption process, in addition to reducing the cost of the adoption process.
Action: Both the house and senate versions have been assigned to three committees each and are awaiting hearings.
SUPPORT 3. HB 899/SB 870 Baby Box Act (Rep. Canady/Sen. Burton)
Description: This bill seeks to expand the locations to first responder facilities and other locations where baby boxes can be installed and monitored. This allows for new mothers to give up their newborn babies and to surrender parental rights to enable the child to be adopted.
Action: On Thursday, the house version passed the first of two committees stops, Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee, 17-0; the senate version had previously passed the first of three committees.
OPPOSE 4. HB 1033/SB 1076 Reproductive Health Care Rights Act (Rep. Harris/Sen. Berman)
Description: This pair of bills seeks to reverse many key and recently passed protections for unborn children and their mothers. It establishes a right to abortion in state law and aims to legalize abortion until the third trimester.
Action: Neither bill has moved.
OPPOSE 5. HB 1231/SB 864 End of Life Act (Rep. Campbell/Sen. Book)
Description: This pair of bills seeks to legalize physician assisted suicide in the state of Florida.
Action: Neither bill has moved.
Freedom of Religion, Speech, and Conscience
SUPPORT 1. HB 1403/SB 1580 Medical Conscience Protection Act (Rep. Rudman/ Sen. Trumbull)
Description: The bill would protect the rights of medical doctors, nurses, or other providers, as well as religious medical facilities, to practice their conscience convictions in their healthcare practices. Specifically, no medical professional or entity could be forced to recommend, participate in, and provide nonemergency medical procedures and actions that would violate their sincerely held convictions and beliefs. For example, no doctor would be forced to perform an abortion, and no nurse would be demanded to participate in a “sex-reassignment” surgery, among other actions that could violate their rights of conscience.
This proposal also provides protections to health care professionals from being penalized, reprimanded, or deprived of their licenses for exercising their freedom of speech by private medical certification boards.
Action: Both bills have been assigned to only two committees each and are awaiting their first hearings.
Sexuality/Marriage/Gender Issues
OPPOSE 1. HB 393/SB 328 Gay and Transgender Panic Legal Defenses Act (Rep. Harris/Sen. Book)
Description: This act would seek to add sexual orientation and gender identity as recognized categories in criminal defense law. Although there are some direct concerns about specific applications in real life, the main issue is the attempt of this bill to slide the subjective, undefinable, and legally fluid categories sexual orientation and gender identity into state law, despite being repeatedly rejected by the Florida legislature in other areas of law. This bill could also be precedent for future attempts to criminalize any opposition to the LGBT movement in the future.
Action: Neither bill has moved.
SUPPORT 2. HB 1421/SB 254 Gender Interventions on Minors Act (Rep. Fine/Sen. Yarborough)
Description: The bill seeks to bans anyone from subjecting minors to dangerous “sex change” hormone treatments or so-called gender reassignment surgeries. It also establishes provisions for affected minors to have opportunities to seek damages from the individuals and entities that subjected them to the harmful treatments in the first place.
Action: The House version has been assigned to two committees and is awaiting a hearing; the Senate version is scheduled for its first of two stops, Monday, March 13th, in the Health Policy Committee, at 3:30 pm in Room 412K in the Knott Building.
OPPOSE 3. HB 163/SB 874 Driver License and Identification Card Gender Designation Act (Rep. Arrington/Sen. Torres, Jr.)
Description: The proposal seeks to add the category of non-binary on ID and Driver’s License State-issued cards. This action would begin the dismantling of government recognition of the biological realities of male and female and set precedent for further undermining sex-specific areas of public law.
Action: Neither bill has moved.
SUPPORT 4. HB 1423/SB 1438 Protecting Children from Adult Entertainment Act (Rep. Fine/Sen. Yarborough)
Description: The bill establishes penalties for private businesses that allow children to have access to adult entertainment venues, including drag shows. Penalties range from serious fines for initial offences, to loss of business license for repeat offences.
Action: Both bills have been filed and are awaiting committee assignments.
OPPOSE 5. HB 659/SB 1522 Sexually Transmissible Diseases Act (Rep. Robinson (F)/Sen. Pizzo)
Description: Currently, under state law, to knowingly donate blood, organs, or other bodily items that are contaminated by an STD (sexually transmitted disease) or to knowingly participated in intercourse while infected with an STD without informing the partner, is a felony. This proposal would seek to lower that criminal action to a mere misdemeanor.
Action: Neither bill has moved.
SUPPORT 6. HB 1521/SB 1674 Safety in Private Spaces Act (Rep. Plakon/Sen. Grall)
Description: The bill aims to codifying that certain private spaces such as restrooms, lockers, showers, and certain sleeping quarters, among other categories are to be kept separated by biological sex for the purposes of public safety and privacy. It also establishes penalties for both individuals and businesses that violate the provisions of the statute.
Action: The house version has been assigned to three committees and is awaiting hearings; the senate version has been assigned to two committees.
OPPOSE 7. HB 219/SB 80 Marriages Between Persons of the Same Sex Act (Rep. Rayner-Goolsby/Sen. Polsky)
Description: This provision aims to eliminate the language in state statute recognizing marriage as between one man and one woman.
Action: Neither bill has moved.
SUPPORT 8. HB 1265/SB 952 Reverse Woke Act (Rep. Yarkosky/Sen. Ingoglia)
Description: The bill establishes provisions in state law that if companies choose to provide healthcare coverage for employees to obtain gender reassignment hormones, treatments, and surgeries, then those same companies must also provide coverage to those same individuals who experience regret and seek to detransition and allows those individuals to sue the same companies for damages.
Action: Both bills have been assigned to three committees each and are awaiting their first hearings.
Education/Parental Rights
SUPPORT 1. HB 1/SB 202 School Choice Act (Rep. Tuck/Sen. Simon)
Description: This bill expands the Florida Education Scholarships to all students statewide, allowing the tax dollars to follow the child to the school of the parent’s choice, allowing parents to determine how their children are educated. This act will revolutionize school choice here in the state of Florida and allow parents, who would otherwise be forced to have their children in public schools, the freedom to choose other options. The bill exempts traditional home education from the bill’s oversight for those homeschoolers who decline to use the funds and establishes a separate category in state statute for those who choose to homeschool and receive the funds, under the category of personalized education plans.
Action: On Wednesday, HB 1 passed the Employment and Education Committee, 16-4 and on Friday, passed the final stop, Education Quality Subcommittee, 13-3, and now heads to the floor. Also on Wednesday, SB 202 passed the Appropriations Committee on Education 9-4. It also has one remaining stop before heading to the Senate floor.
SUPPORT 2. HB 1223/HB 1069/SB 1320 Parental Rights in Education Act (Rep. Anderson/Rep. McClain/Sen. Yarborough)
Description: HB 1223 seeks to further build on Parent’s Rights in Education law by expanding the prohibition on classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity to cover PreK-8th grades. The bill also seeks to protect students and school employees from being forced to use preferred pronouns when those pronouns do not correspond with biological sex realities. HB 1069 prohibits any sex education whatsoever in PreK-5th grades and mandates any teaching in higher grades be tied to teaching biological sex as the basis of gender. It also eliminates the sex ed supplemental materials loophole which unintentionally allowed explicit material if the material was considered “supplemental”, ensuring that all materials in the classroom must meet the same standards. And finally, the proposal adds additional rights for parents to have access to materials in the classroom and rectify violations of the provision.
Action: All 3 proposals only have 2 committee stops each, indicating high priority for legislative leadership; the bills are awaiting hearings.
SUPPORT 3. HB 379/SB 52 Student Social Media and Devices Safety Act (Rep. Yeager/Sen. Burgess)
Description: This proposal seeks to protect young students in their usage of electronic devices while in public school. Public school servers must block access to certain inappropriate websites and block access to all social media platforms for students using those servers. In addition, strict standards on electronic device usage in the classrooms are required to be set and select educational staff are to undergo training on recognizing and addressing the dangers of social media.
Action: Both bills have been assigned to three committees. The Senate version is set for its second of three committees. It will be heard Tuesday, March 14th, at 1:30 pm in Room 412 in the Knott Building. On Thursday, the House version passed its first committee stop, Choice and Innovation Subcommittee, 17-0, and moves on to the second of three committees.
SUPPORT 4. HB 817/SB 650 Sex Ed Transparency Act (Rep. Black/Sen. Collins)
Description: This proposal seeks to strengthen parental notification on sex education instruction and provide transparency on the contents of those courses.
Action: The House version has been assigned to two committees, while the Senate version has been assigned to three. Both bills are still awaiting hearings.
SUPPORT 5. HB 1620/SB 1463 Minors Protection from Harmful Materials Act (Rep. Beltran/Sen. Grall)
Description: This bill establishes guidelines for educating educators on the dangers of technology abuse for children, especially the dangers of pornography. Further, it tightens the educational materials loophole in state obscenity statute, which was used to expose children to inappropriate or even graphic sexual content under the guise of education. It also enforces new rules on specific web providers, websites, and social media platforms to use age verification and other means to protect minors from harmful materials present on said platforms.
Action: The House version has been assigned to four committees, while the Senate version has been assigned to three. Both bills are still awaiting hearings.
Other Related Issues
OPPOSE 1. HB 311/SB 324 Postsecondary Intellectual Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Act (Rep. Hinson/Sen. Polsky)
Description: The proposal would remove free speech protections for college students, as well as the ability of students to film lectures or presentations in class. It also eliminates free speech reviews conducted to ensure state colleges and universities are promoting an environment protecting and encouraging the free exchange of ideas.
Action: Neither bill has moved.
SUPPORT 2. HB 1487/SB 1618 Public Health Emergency Actions Act (Rep. Rudman/Sen. Yarborough)
Description: The ordinances seek to restrict the power of the executive branch to declare public health emergencies and place additional checks and balances by requiring the legislature to have to approve extended public health emergency declarations. The proposals aim to avoid the massive shutdowns on churches, businesses and other establishments, and also to protect individuals from being forced to violate their moral, religious, or health convictions regarding government treatment plans in a public health emergency.
Action: Both bills have been assigned to three committees each and are awaiting their first hearings.
SUPPORT 3. HB 1013/SB 252 COVID Non-Discrimination Health Act (Rep. Griffitts/ Sen. Burton)
Description: The proposal prohibits business entities, governmental entities, and educational institutions from mandating masking, Covid testing, or Covid vaccination requirements upon their customers or employees, to ensure their rights of religious freedom, conscience, and medical choice are protected. The legislation also requires that hospitals allow their doctors to provide a variety of treatments to address Covid cases and prohibits the hospitals from penalizing the doctors in any way for doing so.
Action: The House version has been assigned to three committees and the Senate version has been assigned to two. Both are awaiting their first hearings.
SUPPORT 4. HB 367/SB 610 Registration of Residential Child-caring Agencies and Family Foster Homes (Rep. Plakon/ Sen. Yarborough)
Description: This bill repeals an outdated section of law that established a monopoly by one organization over the licensing of faith-based child care agencies, an organization which has sadly abused their monopoly and harmed a faith based child care agency in the process. This bill simply allows competition for other groups to apply to the state to be certified to also license faith-based child care agencies.
Action: Both bills have been assigned to three committees each; the House bill has passed its first committee, while the Senate version is awaiting a hearing.
Florida Family Policy Council
4853 S. Orange Ave, Suite C, Orlando, FL 32806
[email protected] * Phone: 407-251-1957
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