The 2023 Legislative Session convenes on March 7, 2023, and is scheduled to end on May 5, 2023. Interim committee meetings begin the week of Dec. 12, 2022, and continue through the week of Feb. 20, 2023.  A calendar of the important dates throughout the session can be viewed here, and the interim committee meeting schedule can be viewed here.

The legislature will convene on Nov. 22 for an Organization Session to organize and select officers.  More information can be found here.  Additionally, Senate President-Elect Kathleen Passidomo has released information about her leadership team.

APA Florida will provide information to our members throughout the session. Every Friday, a Bill Tracking Report and Legislative Reporter will be posted on the Legislative Page of the chapter website. The Bill Tracking Report provides a link to bill language, identifies the actions taken on the bill by various committees, and identifies related bills. The Legislative Reporter provides a short summary of individual bills that the chapter is following and their amendments, identifies any action the chapter is taking relative to that bill, and provides an updated bill tracking report. Additionally, the Legislative Reporter is emailed to our members.

At the end of the session, the chapter will prepare and distribute a summary of the major planning-related bills passed by the Legislature. This summary will include a detailed summary of the bill provisions and will include a link to the enrolled bill language. This summary will also be posted on the Chapter website and be presented in a free webinar for members.

If you do not deal with legislative issues daily, the information you receive from us may be confusing. Several materials are available at the Online Sunshine Information website to help you understand the legislative process and vocabulary:

                How an Idea Becomes a Bill  (Senate Document)
                Glossary of Legislative Terms  (Senate Document
                Frequently Asked Questions   (Senate Document)

If you are interested in looking at specific bill language, you can easily search for a bill using the Senate and House webpages. You can search by bill number, statutory references, or subject. You can search for both House and Senate bills on either of these sites. You will also have access to filed amendments and staff reports. You can watch committee meetings of interest on the Florida Channel. Additionally, the House and Senate video the meetings and post them on the individual committee webpage after the meeting.

If at any point there is a bill that you would like added to the Bill Tracking report or you have a question related to a bill, simply email the Chapter Office at fapa@floridaplanning.org with the request.