October Legislative Update

Session starts in January this year and ends in March. The first round of committee weeks start the week of October 5th.

Legislation is starting to be filed but there is not much to report yet except for a couple of bills and one that I know none of us like and it is important to all.

The med mal bill, that was vetoed four months ago, has been refiled. The Speaker has announced the House will revisit the issue. As you recall this would repeal a 35-year-old legal provision preventing some families from suing for the wrongful death of a loved one and collecting pain and suffering. The bill as filed has no caps on damages.

The immunization issue has been a hot topic to date. I anticipate mammo related legislation being filed like what was filed last year. Details have yet to be finalized.

The House and Senate have chosen their next Speaker and Senate President for the 2026 Session. Rep Sam Garrison will be our next Speaker and Senator Jim Boyd will be our next Senate President.

They will be having their designation ceremonies in October. There are solid Republican majorities in both chambers.

This upcoming election cycles the Governor and cabinet members are up for re-election. Governor DeSantis is termed out, and Congressman Byron Donald’s is the front runner in the race. The CFO is Blaise Ingoglia who was appointed to fill the position when Jimmy Patronis resigned to run for Matt Gaetz’s Congressional seat. CFO Ingoglia has announced his intention to run for the seat.

When the President appointed Senator Marco Rubio to be Secretary of State that opened the US Senate seat for the Governor to make an appointment. The Governor appointed Attorney General Ashley Moody to the US Senate.

He then appointed James Uthmeier, his Chief of Staff, to be Attorney General. AG Uthmeier intends to run for the seat.

As I write this, the special election for former Senator Blaise Ingoglia’s seat is being held. I predict Dr. Ralph Massulo will win the Primary to go onto the General election.

Updates on the race in the next Ebrief.