Florida House announces major operational changes for 2025 Legislative Session

As Florida lawmakers prepare for the 2025 Legislative Session, incoming House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, has outlined a series of changes designed to improve the efficiency, transparency, and accountability of legislative operations.

In a memo to House members on November 13, Speaker-designate Perez, a lawyer, highlighted several key reforms, including a streamlined bill filing process, new member engagement initiatives, and stronger ethics policies.

The 60-day Regular Session is set to begin on March 4, 2025, but shifts in legislative procedure will take effect well before then. As lawmakers return to Tallahassee in the coming weeks for interim committee weeks, they will adjust to a new set of rules aimed at creating a more predictable and responsive legislative environment.

Bill Filing

Perez says the House will be discontinuing its “traditional, complicated system” of multiple drafting submission and bill filing deadlines. The House will now have a single bill drafting submission deadline (Friday, January 24, 2025) and a single bill filing deadline (Friday, February 28, 2025) for all seven member bill slots.

“This new configuration should reduce confusion, provide adequate time to draft bills, and expedite the referral process at the beginning of Regular Session,” said Perez, adding that bill draft requests will now be limited to 21 per member per session.

House Memorials will now also count toward a member’s seven-bill limit, but representatives will be allowed to file one repealer that will not count toward the seven-bill limit.

Combined Workgroups

A combined workgroup will be a forum for an “intensive examination” of a single issue across multiple subject matter jurisdictions, according to the memo. The chairs of the committees or subcommittees forming the workgroup will select the members of the workgroup, and one member will be chosen as the workgroup manager. They will meet over a short period of time (e.g., 14 days) and have a 24-hour meeting notice requirement.

“The combined workgroup would facilitate an open conversation between Members,” according to the memo. “Unlike a select committee, these recommendations would not be in the form of a report generated by staff, but would be made by motion by members in an open meeting. The resulting work product could be considered as the basis for a proposed committee bill by one of the involved committees or subcommittees.”

Committee Process

In the past, the House Rules had different times for the various deadlines associated with committees. For example, the committee notice deadline was 4:30 p.m., while the amendment deadline was 6 p.m. Committee deadlines will now be set uniformly at 5 p.m.

“In the past term, some members seemed to have been under the mistaken impression that their bills would automatically appear on a committee agenda,” Perez told his colleagues. “Going forward, if you wish a chair to consider hearing your bill, you will be required to ask the chair in writing to place your bill on the agenda. Your request must also include information on your anticipated Senate companion bill.”

Perez said members will be expected to work their bills and fully engage not only with the chairs but with the members of the committee.

Session

While in the past, members have been required to “ask permission” to miss a floor session, now representatives will only be required to notify the Speaker’s Office and the Clerk if they plan to miss all or part of a scheduled floor session. However, if a member fails to provide prior notice of their absence, they will not be permitted to vote after roll call on any of the matters before the House on that day.

“As you know, former Members who are registered lobbyists are not admitted into the House Chamber other than for ceremonial events,” Perez said. “In recent Sessions, de facto lobbying has taken place by some former Members who, while not technically registered to lobby, are employed by principals with business before the House. Going forward, former Members who are employed by a registered principal will be treated in the same manner as former Members who are registered lobbyists.”

Rules & Ethics Committee

In recent years, Perez says the House has increasingly pushed into the hands of staff the “unpleasant task” of addressing breaches by members of House policy, protocol, and decorum.

“I find this practice to be inappropriate,” Perez said in announcing that the House Rules & Ethics Committee will be empowered to address those issues.

He said the Rules & Ethics Committee may reprimand the member, recommend administrative remedies to the Speaker, or recommend action by the House.

“This process will be separate from the formal complaint process, and the Rules & Ethics Chair will have discretion on what matters to bring before the committee,” Perez said. “As Members, we – not staff – are responsible for governing our behavior, for determining the line between acceptable and unacceptable conduct, and for holding one another accountable.”

Member Travel

For the past few years, the House rules have contained a blanket prohibition on traveling on any private aircraft owned by “a principal.” In contrast, other state officials, including senators, may travel on private aircraft while paying the equivalent of a coach fare on a commercial airline.

“We are proposing a new House Rule that would allow Members to travel on a private flight, regardless of the ownership, but only at the cost of the actual private flight divided by the number of occupied seats on the flight,” said Perez, noting that many parts of Florida can be difficult to access by air, particularly when traveling to and from Tallahassee. “We believe this new rule will provide some additional flexibility without allowing House Members to receive a disproportionate benefit from a lobbyist or principal.”

Lobbyist Disclosure

House rules require lobbyists to disclose to the House the specific bills and appropriations on which they are lobbying. To facilitate improved compliance with the House rules:

• House policies will now specify that staff must confirm that a lobbyist has filed a disclosure prior to scheduling a meeting on a specific bill, appropriation, or issue.
• Upon receipt of any information, formal or informal, that indicates that a lobbyist has failed to disclose their activities as required by the House rules, the Rules & Ethics Committee chair will have authority to investigate the matter. If a lobbyist does not promptly remedy their failure to disclose, the matter may be brought before the Rules & Ethics Committee in a public meeting for a hearing and sanctions.
• The penalties for failure to disclose lobbying activity will be expanded to include the levying of fines.

“The House will have a zero-tolerance policy for any attempt to avoid, manipulate, or undermine the lobbyist disclosure system,” Perez said.

Dates to Remember

As the legislature gears up for the 2025 session, lawmakers will convene for their organizational sessions on November 19, where they will elect leaders and approve chamber rules.

The first interim committee week will take place from December 2-6, followed by a second round of committee weeks in January and February 2025. During these weeks, lawmakers will hold policy workshops, gather testimony, and begin fine-tuning their priorities for the upcoming session.

The regular session officially begins on Tuesday, March 4, 2025.