REDISTRICTING The Florida Senate Committee on Reapportionment and the Florida House Redistricting Committee, as well as their individual subcommittees, have continued to work to develop district maps as required by law. Committee staffs have prepared several maps for proposed congressional districts, Florida Senate districts, and Florida House districts. The subcommittees are looking to make their recommendations to the full committees during the first couple of weeks of the 2022 Legislative Session. To view the proposed maps, please go to this website.
| BILLS FILED The bill filing deadline is noon on January 11th, 2022. As of this writing, 2,703 bills have been filed with many more anticipated in the next month. Here is a sampling of some of the bills filed so far. HB1 REPEAL There is proposed legislation to repeal provisions in last year’s controversial House Bill 1, also called the “anti-riot” bill. In September, a federal judge granted an injunction blocking certain portions of the new law, ruling some provisions are unconstitutional and violate freedom of speech rights. Nine Florida cities have filed a lawsuit challenging HB 1. DAMAGES This bill would allow businesses who can prove at least a 15 percent loss in revenue over a three-year period due to local ordinances to sue their local government. COVID-19 LAW REPEALS Bills have been filed to repeal laws passed during the November special session including: the prohibition of public and private employee COVID-19 vaccination mandates; the ban on COVID-19 vaccination and face covering mandates for students; and and the cancellation of a study to explore the creation of a state occupational health and safety agency. Other legislation would restore the ability of the state health officer to order vaccinations during public health emergencies |