Legislative updates - September 2025

This is a critical time at the local, state, and federal levels for decisions relating to how government functions, how it is funded, and where the true interests of the public lie. When emotions and rhetoric run high, it is essential to cut through to what each of the three branches of government-executive, legislative, judicial-are actually doing, and focus on how governmental actions affect our freedoms, our pocketbooks, and our families. Here, in brief, is an outline of recent and anticipated policy decisions.

Miami-Dade County:

The final 2025-26 budget hearing concluded in the wee hours of September 19, with many threatened cuts and rate increases avoided, but with stern warnings that the patchwork of measures used to fill a projected $400 million deficit for 2025-26 might not be available in future years. The millage rate will remain flat, but the Mayor warned that closing budget gaps by dipping into reserves, consolidating departments, and reducing staff is not a sustainable practice. The imposition of state-level reductions in property tax, as Governor Ron DeSantis has suggested, would present additional burdens on future budget development.

Florida:

• Legislative: The 2026 Legislative Session will begin on January 13, and is scheduled to end on March 13. Before the Legislature officially convenes, it has scheduled a series of six Interim Committee Weeks , during which bills can be considered in committee, but not brought to a floor vote. The Governor, or, alternatively, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House together, may also call for a Special Session devoted to topics specifically named in the call.

Here is the Senate schedule of authorized committee meetings for October 6-10 and October 13-17 . The House schedule has not yet been released.

Just over two dozen policy bills have been filed to date. Check our 2026 FLORIDA BILL TRACKER for updates and specific information regarding each bill.

Of note: The House Select Committee on Property Taxes , chaired by Miami's Representative Vicki Lopez (R-113), has tentatively scheduled meetings for September 22 ( meeting agenda ) and September 23 ( meeting agenda ). Other members of the Miami-Dade Delegation who sit on the Committee are Jim Mooney (R-120) and Juan Carlos Porras (R-119).

• Judicial: The First District Court of Appeal has ruled Florida's open carry ban to be unconstitutional. Current prohibitions on the possession of weapons in certain locales, like courthouses, polling places, and government buildings, remain in force.

Federal Government:

• Executive : To date, the President has signed more than 200 Executive Orders , ranging from changing the name of the Department of Defense to ending cashless bail to declaring a crime emergency in Washington, DC. Not all of these orders fall within the scope of Presidential powers, as previously interpreted.

On another front, just as school has resumed across the country, and the start of the seasonal cold and flu season is upon us, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's newly-appointed vaccine panel has discarded previous medical protocols and confused millions of seniors and parents of newborns and school-age children. The panel's latest salvo was a vote September 19 not to allow the federal government to cover the cost of a combination vaccine against several childhood diseases.

• Legislative: With the next fiscal year slated to begin October 1, House Republicans sent a continuing budget resolution to the Senate that died after both it and a rival Democratic proposal failed to win sufficient votes. A government shutdown, likely entailing the furlough of government workers and a halt to all but essential services grows more likely by the day. Democrats are seeking concessions on healthcare funding that Republicans are unlikely to agree to.

Bills enacted: To date, Congress has passed only 36 bills that have been signed into law.

• Judicial: The court will rule on any number of key cases and potentially overturn a number of long-standing judicial precedents. It will also be determining, on an emergency basis, the status of multiple Trump policies and actions that various plaintiffs have sought to block.

Key cases to be heard in the next few weeks:

• October 7: Oral arguments on Chiles v. Salazar regarding the constitutionality of Colorado's ban on "conversion therapy."

• October 15: Oral arguments on Louisiana v. Callais, a case held over from the Court's previous term. This case has the potential to nullify Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which allows redistricting boundaries to be drawn so as to take minority representation into account.