Florida Post-Session: The Death of Anti-Worker Bills
A quick send-off to Florida bills that died this last week that could have made the lives of Florida's working people harder.
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Florida’s rather unusual 60-day legislative session (featuring bickering among Republicans and a scandal involving the governor’s wife) ended this past Friday, cutting off the chance of passage for several bills I’ve mentioned here over the last couple of months that could have, in some way or another, made the lives of working people in Florida harder.
Although state lawmakers will be heading back up to Tallahassee next week to hammer out a state budget — since they failed to do so during the regular session — they will only continue to consider a limited selection of bills that pertain to the state budget, specifically. All others, including those listed below, have been indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration.
It’s possible that some or all of these proposals will turn up again next year when state lawmakers reconvene for the 2026 state legislative session. Time will tell.
Here are the most notable anti-worker bills that died (at least for now):
HB 1225/SB 918: Allow some teenagers to work unlimited hours and overnight shifts
Sponsored by Rep. Monique Miller and Sen. Jay Collins
What it would have done: Eliminate restrictions on the number of hours that teenagers aged 16 and older can work per week, in addition to other restrictions on how late they can work and how early, even when they have school the next day. Children as young as 14 who are homeschooled or enrolled in virtual school would also have been permitted to work as late or early as their employer wanted, including overnight shifts.
Additional detail(s) of note: Email communications I obtained through a records request show the bill was drafted/pushed by the Governor’s office. The proposal was similar to rollbacks previously pushed by the Foundation for Government Accountability, a Naples-based think tank with ties to DeSantis. The FGA has been a driving force behind child labor rollbacks in Florida and other GOP-controlled states.
HB 1387/SB 1766: Make it harder for public sector employees to unionize/keep their union
Sponsored by Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka and Sen. Blaise Ingoglia
What it would have done: The bill would have eliminated the option of allowing voluntary union recognition by a public employer, and would have required a majority of the bargaining unit to vote in favor of unionization or recertification in order for the union to prevail in a union election (currently, unions just need a majority vote of support from those vote). Other provisions would have given commissioners for the Public Employees Relations Commission (DeSantis appointees) a salary boost and increased fines for illegal public employee strikes.
Additional detail(s) of note: This proposal was almost completely abandoned, taken up only by a single committee in the Florida House after the House sponsor sent a letter to the committee chair (pg. 37) all but begging her to schedule her bill for a hearing.
HB 1217/SB 1328: Make it harder for public sector employees to unionize/keep their union (lite version)
Sponsored by Rep. Dean Black and Sen. Randy Fine
What it would have done: This bill still covered the broad strokes of HB 1387/SB 1766, but didn’t include some specific asks from the Public Employees Relations Commissision (i.e. increasing PERC commissioners’ salaries) and the anti-union Freedom Foundation (e.g. increase fines for illegal strikes by public employees).
HB 6033/SB 1672: Gut protections for temporary/day laborers
Sponsored by Rep. Shane Abbott and Sen. Keith Truenow
What it would have done: This bill would have repealed Florida’s Labor Pool Act of 1995, stripping or otherwise significantly weakening over a dozen labor protections for day laborers and temp workers.
Additional detail(s) of note: The driving supporter of this bill was Pacesetter Personnel Services, a staffing agency that has been accused of violating provisions of the Labor Pool Act.
HB 541/SB 676: Allow employers to pay interns and apprentices less than minimum wage
Sponsored by Rep. Ryan Chamberlin and Sen. Jonathan Martin
What it would have done: This bill would have allowed employers to pay apprentices, pre-apprentices, interns (a term not defined in Florida statutes), and other “work-study” learners less than Florida’s minimum wage of $13 an hour (specifcally affecting those who are already guaranteed at least minimum wage by law). Instead of directly carving these workers out of minimum wage requirements (something that’s baked into our state Constitution), the bill would have allowed workers to sign a form to “opt out” of being paid minimum wage.
Additional detail(s) of note: Florida Senate President Ben Albritton told reporters in late April that he wasn’t on-board with the proposal, and implied that it wouldn’t cross the finish line even head of session’s final stretch. “I don’t love it, to tell you the truth,” Albritton, R-Wauchula, told reporters. “I think if somebody works, whether they’re being an apprentice or whatever, the minimum wage is in the [state] Constitution for a reason.”
HB 1157/SB 1238: Add new hurdles to qualify for unemployment benefits
Sponsored by Rep. Shane Abbott and Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez
What it would have done: This bill would have made it harder for Floridians to access or continue receiving unemployment benefits (or “re-employment”) by adding new requirements in order to qualify. For instance, Floridians would have been required to contact at least five prospective employers per week, and would be disqualified if they miss three or more scheduled job interviews without contacting the employer to reschedule. Mind you, Florida’s unemployment system only offers up to a measly $275 per week max, as it is.
Additional detail(s) of note: This bill passed the House but stalled in the Senate; a similar thing happened last year.
HB 1193/SB 1772: Prohibit cities and counties from funding guaranteed income programs
Sponsored by Rep. David Borrero and Sen. Jonathan Martin
What it would have done: The bill would have barred municipal governments (i.e. cities and counties) from using taxpayer money to fund a guaranteed income program (privately-funded programs would still be OK). Guaranteed income programs, somewhat more targeted than universal basic income programs, offer a set amount of money to a specific population in need (usually low-income individuals or families) with no strings attached. I wrote about the bill and how its one and only committee hearing went down for Orlando Weekly.
Additional detail(s) of note: This is something the Foundation for Government Accountability (a driving force behind child labor rollbacks) has been pushing elsewhere in the country. I personally expected it to come up this session here in Florida — wasn’t expecting it to be so utterly ignored and neglected. Still, wouldn’t be surprised to see it revived next year.
HB 955: Expand E-verify requirements to all private employers
Sponsored by Rep. Berny Jacques
What it would have done: Would have expanded Florida’s current E-Verify mandate to all private sector employers, getting rid of an exemption for small businesses.
Additional detail(s) of note: All private employers with at least 25 employees are already required under Florida law to use the flawed E-Verify system to verify that employees are legally authorized to work in the U.S. This mandate was first approved by lawmakers a few years ago, but contained a loophole for small businesses with fewer employees. Business groups have opposed the mandate, and while Jacques’ HB 955 cleared the Florida House, the Senate failed to take it up.