"Members, this resolution recognizes April 11 as Path of the Panther Day.”

-- Senator Jason Brodeur at the beginning of his remarks after the resolution unanimously passed the Senate floor. If you are in Tallahassee, head up to the 22nd floor to see the accompanying art exhibit by Carlton Ward Jr.

The full House passed new abortion restrictions Thursday amid public outbursts in the chamber's gallery, and Gov. Ron DeSantis quickly signed the measure into law late last night. House Republicans rejected numerous amendments filed by Democrats on Thursday and passed SB 300, which supporters are calling the "Heartbeat Protection Act." The nearly 60 amendments filed all failed or were subsequently withdrawn and ranged from removing the current requirement of two doctors to prove a fatal fetal abnormality to funding rape crisis centers in the state

The measure bans doctors from performing most abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy. It makes make exceptions in cases of rape, incest, human trafficking, fatal fetal abnormalities or if the mother is at risk of severe injury or death. To qualify for the exception, the measure requires pregnant women to prove they're a victim of rape, incest or human trafficking by producing a police report or other evidence, in which case it would allow abortions up to 15 weeks. The governor's office said in a statement that DeSantis had signed the legislation. The six-week ban will take effect if the state's current 15-week ban is upheld in an ongoing legal challenge before the state Supreme Court. 

Opponents argued that the government should not interfere in a patient's decisions with a doctor, while supporters said it protects the right to life. The unamended legislation, sponsored by Fort Pierce Republican Sen. Erin Grall and Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, passed on a 70-40 vote, with some Republicans joining Democrats in opposition.

The House Ways and Means Committee released its annual tax package this week. While the 73-page proposal is a massive tax cut package for the coming year, Legislators are stopping short of embracing some of the proposals being pushed by Governor Ron DeSantis in the tax package he unveiled earlier this year.

The House picked up many of the governor’s ideas in their $1.4 billion proposal, including creating two back-to-school tax holidays and permanently eliminating taxes on diapers.

But they curtailed some of DeSantis’ other ideas — such as a year-long break on taxes charged on pet food or household items such as laundry detergent or paper towels — that the House pared back to just a 14-day break in early summer. The House package calls for a year-long exemption on the purchase of gas stoves as opposed to eliminating it completely as DeSantis recommended. The House is also proposing to offer a sales tax break on children’s toys and children’s athletic equipment for just the summer period from Memorial Day to Labor Day instead of a year-long break as the governor had suggested.

The Senate has not yet rolled out its bill, but Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, the chair of the Senate Finance and Tax Committee, said that their proposal is likely to mirror the House bill.

Thursday, the Senate Committee on Fiscal Policy had a nearly 5-hour meeting during which they heard both the Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) legislation and the Environmental Social Governance (ESG) bills.

This was the second of two stops for the PBM bill, SB 1550, and it has been placed on the special order calendar for this coming Tuesday. The bill passed the committee with 18 yays and 1 nay. The bill's sponsor, Senator Jason Brodeur, fielded several questions from fellow Senators, and there was minimal public comment. The House version of the bill is currently awaiting a hearing in the Appropriations Committee, after which it still has to pass through the Health and Human Services Committee before making its way to the floor.

SB 302, by Senator Grall, is the legislature's proposed ESG bill, which was heard just after the PBM bill in Fiscal Policy on Thursday. Similarly, this bill passed the committee and is headed to the floor on Tuesday. Senator Grall had a fairly easy time with the bill before the committee and was faced with minimal questions and public testimony. The House bill passed the full house in March.

While there are no major updates to the budget this week, we anticipate next week to be a vastly different story. Currently, the budget conference is expected to convene at some point next week.

During the budget conference, both chambers will align their two budgets to make them identical before passing the final version off the floor and sending it to the Governor.

You can read more about the full budget process in the timeline below.

t-21 days until the end of Session...