The 128th Florida Legislative Session ended March 13 with a whimper, not a bang, most notably the failure to once again pass a budget.
Both the House and Senate chambers passed their individual budgets, but the two must agree before moving forward. The disparity between the proposals is not particularly large, about $1.4 billion, considering the total state budget sits around $114 to $115 billion. The Senate’s budget, however, is the larger of the two.
Despite the Senate proposal being bigger, Senate President Ben Albritton, a Republican representing District 27, said during session that “the Senate will hold the line on spending, live within our means and strike the right balance between spending and saving.”
Democratic House Representative Lindsay Cross told Poliverse: “I find it incredibly disheartening that the Republican supermajority failed to produce the one responsibility we have each year, to pass a balanced budget.”
Cross also pointed to what she described as a preoccupation with culture war issues during the session, including continued attacks on diversity initiatives, renaming roads after controversial figures and measures she says undermine public schools.
Some of the legislation she referenced includes House Bill 33, which renames a road in Miami-Dade after right wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated last year, as well as House Bill 125, which designates an official day of remembrance for Kirk.
Another measure, Senate Bill 1134, blocks local governments from passing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives and establishes penalties for government officials who enact such policies.
All of those bills passed during the session. But “none of these bills address the number one concern of Floridians,” Cross continued. “The growing affordability crisis.”
Meanwhile, some consequential legislation failed to clear the finish line. Lawmakers spent much of the session debating changes to Senate Bill 180, a hurricane rebuilding law passed after the 2024 storms that critics say overly restricts local planning authority.
A proposed fix, Senate Bill 840, would have narrowed the law’s scope and limited how broadly developers could challenge local regulations deemed “restrictive or burdensome.” Although the Senate approved the measure, the House did not act before time ran out, leaving the existing law in place for now, which will erode local authorities’ powers.
Because the Legislature failed to finalize a budget, the traditional Sine Die ceremony, the ceremonial dropping of a handkerchief marking the close of the legislative session in Tallahassee, has been postponed until lawmakers reach an agreement.