2025 Legislative Session: Bills to watch in Florida
The House and Senate will meet at the Florida Capitol again today for the regular 60-day legislative session.
New bills have been proposed in both the House and Senate that would require that state-issued ID cards and driver licenses include whether someone is a citizen or a non-citizen.
Another senate bill that has seen bipartisan support would require that all private employers, rather than only those employing 25 or more employees, use E-Verify, a federal program to check a prospective hire’s legal status, to verify a new employee’s employment eligibility.
There are several bills dealing with firearms for this legislative session, including bills that would allow concealed carry on college campuses, and would allow law enforcement to carry guns on school property during athletic events even if they are off duty. There is also a bill in the house that would lower the age to legally purchase a firearm from 21 to 18.
In an effort to help rural counties that have been negatively affected by hurricanes, a new bill proposes almost $200 million for infrastructure improvements that would support these rural areas. The bill will affect nearly half of Florida’s counties.
There are two bills that would change property taxes across the state, including a bill requiring a study of eliminating property taxes and making up the difference with budget cuts and sales tax. Another bill would increase the homestead exemption from $25,000 to $75,000.
Four candidates to compete in Republican primary for soon-to-be-vacant Florida Senate seat
Four Republican candidates will be facing off in an April 1 GOP primary for the soon-to-be-vacant District 19 seat in the Florida Senate, which includes Central and South Brevard County.
The four Republicans seeking the seat are Marcie Adkins of Grant-Valkaria, Mark Lighter III of Melbourne, Debbie Mayfield of Indialantic, a current member of the Florida House of Representatives, and Tim Thomas of Melbourne.
The winner of that primary will face Democrat Vance Ahrens of Grant-Valkaria in a June 10 special general election for the seat.
The candidates are seeking to fill the remainder of Randy Fine's four-year term, which runs until November 2028, as Fine is resigning to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
SpaceX confirms: Gigabay coming, and Starship launch from Florida by end of year
SpaceX ambitiously confirmed they are pushing to launch Starship from Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A by the end of 2025.
This news was publicly announced during the webcast of the March 3 Starship launch attempt from the Boca Chica, Texas, Starbase.
The project includes at least $1.8 billion of SpaceX capital investment and will bring an estimated 600 new full-time jobs in the Space Coast by 2030, the governor’s office said.
Following environmental reviews, construction of the giant Gigabay at KSC could begin as soon as next month. This facility will be used to stack and finalize the 232-foot-tall Super Heavy boosters (lower-stages) before flight.
SpaceX launches Starlink satellites Sunday; booster tips over on drone ship
SpaceX launched another Falcon 9 rocket during Sunday night’s Oscars ceremony, sending up another payload of 21 Starlink broadband satellites into low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
But after the first-stage booster successfully landed atop a SpaceX drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, a fire in the aft end of the rocket damaged one of the landing legs — and the booster tipped over, SpaceX reported.
'While disappointing to lose a rocket after a successful mission, the team will use the data to make Falcon even more reliable on ascent and landing,' SpaceX officials said in a Monday morning tweet.
More: FloridaToday.com