Looking Ahead to the 2019 Florida Legislative Session

FREE BILL TRACKING CHART

 

Image result for 2019

The 2019 Legislative Session will begin on March 5, 2019, and is expected to end sixty days later on May 3, 2019. However, the Florida House and Senate start work well before the opening gavel. If you want to have meaningful input into the laws that will impact your business, the industry of family you should begin following the process and expressing your concerns now. The legislature works through committees. Committee meetings commence as of January 9, 2019.

A bill is an idea for a law that is submitted by a member of the Florida House or Florida Senate. After submission, the idea is sent to “bill drafting” where the specific language is prepared and a bill number is assigned. House bills are assigned odd numbers and Senate bills are assigned even numbers. Numbering is assigned based on the date when the bills are submitted. After a bill is submitted, the leadership of each body assigns the bill to committees to review the bill. At committee hearings, each bill is either approved, amended or voted down. If a bill is approved by each assigned committee it sent to the floor of the Senate or House for final approval. Florida has a bicameral legislature which means a bill must be approved by both the Florida House and the Florida Senate before being presented to the Governor for approval or veto. A bill which is approved by the legislature and the Governor becomes a law.

The Florida House and Florida Senate have already begun accepting bills for next year. Throughout the course of the 2019 session, Ansbacher Law will update a list of important bills. A link to version 1 of our 2019 Bill Tracking Chart (pdf) is available at this link:.2019 Florida Bill Tracking Chart – Version 1