The Capitol was busy early this year with the 2016 Legislative Session starting on January 12th. Legislation passed in 2015 that directed the members to craft a budget and consider any proposals from January 12th – March 11th this year. They will follow the same schedule in 2018. As a result, many legislators and staffers will get to spend spring break with their families.
Lawmakers passed an $82.3 billion budget and 279 bills of a total of 1,814 filed this year. The state budget is the only constitutionally required responsibility of the Florida Legislature each year. The 2016 Legislative Session officially ended at 6:46pm on Friday, March 11th.
To date, Governor Rick Scott has signed sixty bills. To see a list of these bills go here. We have outlined a few items of interest that passed and failed this year.