The bill says that the law would apply to all health insurance policies that are “delivered, issued, renewed, or amended on or after January 1, 2027 … including policies provided by group, blanket, or franchise health insurers; prepaid limited health service organizations and discount plan organizations; and health maintenance organizations.”

Federal law caps insulin costs for Medicare patients at $35 per month for covered insulin products. While no federal legislation caps such costs for individuals covered by private plans, 29 states and the District of Columbia have limited insulin copayments in state-regulated commercial plans. Some states have also capped costs in their state employee health plans.

The Senate bill has been referred to the Banking and Insurance Committee, the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government, and the Fiscal Policy Committee. The House bill has been referred to the Health and Human Services and Budget committees.

Harris/Smith: Prohibiting gay “panic defense"

The lawmakers have filed identical legislation titled the Gay and Transgender Panic Legal Defenses Prohibition Act. Harris is carrying the bill in the House; Smith in the Senate. 

The legislation would forbid defendants charged with violent crimes from using a “panic defense,” a legal strategy that weaponizes their victim’s nonviolent sexual advance or perception of their “sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or [the] gender identity of an individual” to reduce or evade criminal liability, according to the proposed legislation and the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association and Foundation. 

The measure, similar to others introduced federally and in other states, would create a new law that prohibits such a defense. According to the legislation, “The Legislature finds that gay and transgender panic legal defenses raised in criminal proceedings characterize sexual orientation and gender expression or gender identity as objectively reasonable excuses for a perpetrator’s loss of self-control and that these defenses thereby illegitimately attempt to mitigate the responsibility of the perpetrator for harm done to lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individuals.”

Twenty states and the District of Columbia have passed similar legislation. In contrast, a dozen other states, including Florida, have introduced bills that have failed, according to the nonprofit LGBTQ+ Bar, a network of legal professionals and organizations that advocates for the LGBTQ+ community.

Smith, who made history as Florida’s first openly LGBTQ+ Latino lawmaker when he was elected to the state House in 2016, introduced a similar bill in the last session, where it died in committee.

Harris’ HB 317 has been referred to the Criminal Justice Subcommittee within the Judiciary Committee. Smith’s SB 336 has been referred to the Criminal Justice, Judiciary, and Fiscal Policy committees.

Smith: Paid parental leave

To date, Smith has introduced 31 bills and co-introduced another five. We’re highlighting some of his more compelling and impactful proposed legislation.

SB 220 would amend Florida Statute 110.221, which governs parental or family medical leave for career service employees in state government, by codifying paid parental leave benefits currently available to some state employees.

The bill first explicitly defines the phrase “paid parental leave” as “fully paid leave for the father or mother of a child who is born to or adopted by that parent.”

Under the bill, the state would provide 12 weeks of paid parental leave to a career service employee, and cannot require them to use their annual leave or sick leave during the initial 12-week period. “The employee is entitled to accumulate all benefits granted under paid leave status,” it says, adding that the state also cannot refuse to grant paid parental leave to a state employee. 

Currently, eligible state employees can receive up to seven weeks of paid maternity leave after the birth of a child, plus an additional two weeks of paid parental leave within the first 12 months, for a total of nine weeks of paid leave. In Florida, there is no state-mandated parental leave law for private-sector workers. However, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for eligible employees, but it does not require pay. 

SB 220 has been referred to the Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee, the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government and the Appropriations Committee.‍

Smith: Veterans' rental assistance

SB 236 would create the Veterans’ Rental Assistance Grant Program to help low-income veterans obtain one-time grants of up to $2,000 to cover security deposits for rental housing. (Often people can cover monthly rent, but don't have enough in a lump sum to cover rent plus security deposits and other apartment fees.) The bill would authorize the Florida Housing Finance Corporation to administer the grant and may adopt rules to implement the program.

To be eligible, the bill says veterans must be honorably discharged with a DD-214 form as proof of their separation from the military. If the form isn’t available, the bill says that other documents may be acceptable if the Departments of Defense or Veterans Affairs recognize them. Veterans must also be a resident of Florida, have an ID card as proof and have an annual household income at or below 140 percent of the area median income.

The Florida Council on Homelessness found in its 2025 annual report that there are nearly 1,900 homeless veterans across the state, including about 210 in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. That has decreased year over year, but the figure is still higher than it was in 2019.

Generally, the report also said that “without a significant increase in the supply of housing” and “stronger rental assistance supports” to extremely low-income and special-needs populations, “many Floridians will remain at heightened risk of homelessness despite recent gains in shelter access and overall homelessness reductions.” However, new direction from the Trump administration has cut funding for permanent housing by half in favor of transitional housing, emergency shelters and support services.

The bill has been referred to the Community Affairs Committee, the Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development and the Fiscal Policy Committee.

Smith: Law Enforcement ID and face coverings

‍SB 316 would create the Visible Identification Standards for Immigration Based Law Enforcement Act, or VISIBLE Act. It would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, as well as federally deputized law enforcement officers, to always display visible identification and to be barred from wearing masks when conducting public-facing immigration actions.

Several states and localities across the country have been passing legislation banning face coverings and mandating more prominent display of law enforcement IDs in response to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

The proposed legislation says visible IDs must show the name of the immigration officer’s agency and be large enough and “clearly legible from a distance of not less than 25 feet … in both daylight and low-light conditions under normal operational conditions.”

An officer’s last name, badge or ID number should also be displayed in a way that is “clearly visible and readable during direct engagement with the public,” according to the VISIBLE Act. Their ID must be shown on an officer’s outermost garment and gear and can’t be obscured by any armor, equipment or accessories.  

Additionally, such officers cannot wear “nonmedical face coverings, including masks or balaclavas, which impair the visibility of the identifying information required under this section or obscure the officer’s face unless such face covering is necessary to protect the integrity of a covert, nonpublic operation or to guard against hazardous environmental conditions.”

The bill defines a public-facing immigration action as “a patrol, a stop, an arrest, a search, an interview to determine immigration status, a raid, a checkpoint inspection or the service of a judicial or administrative warrant.” It does not include “covert, nonpublic operations or nonenforcement activities.” 

The bill also authorizes the state Board of Immigration Enforcement, which was created earlier this year, to investigate complaints of potential violations. They are empowered to discipline any officer who fails to comply with “a written reprimand, suspension, or other personnel action, consistent with the policies of the officer’s employing agency and any applicable collective bargaining agreement.” Furthermore, the board would have to make recommendations to agencies to improve compliance with the proposed legislation and submit annual reports. 

Additionally, the bill amends Florida Statute Section 943.1718, which concerns law enforcement body camera policies and procedures. It includes a definition of face coverings that is separate from utilitarian masks that prevent disease transmission or exposure to toxins, gas, smoke or other hazardous environmental conditions.

Moreover, while it says law enforcement officers cannot wear face coverings during official duties, if covering the face will be necessary during an undercover investigation, the bill mandates that agencies notify sheriffs at least 12 hours before operations begin, explaining when and where officers will be operating and the approximate duration of the undercover investigation.

The VISIBLE Act has been referred to the Criminal Justice Committee; Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice, and the Fiscal Policy Committee. State Rep. Angie Nixon is carrying the companion bill HB 419 in the House.

‍Smith: Immigration and state-issued ID

SB 328, which would amend several Florida statutes, addresses multiple aspects related to immigration, law enforcement, and state-issued identification.

Among the changes, the 76-page bill, titled the Florida Economic Prosperity and Immigration Act, would create the Office for New Americans that would implement a statewide strategy and program to promote immigrant and refugee inclusion as a way “to improve economic mobility, enhance civic participation and improve receiving communities’ openness to immigrants and refugees.”

The office would have multiple responsibilities: connecting employers with immigrant job seekers; being a clearinghouse and coordinator for other state agencies on immigration-related policy issues; dealing with state licensing boards and others when it comes to professional regulations; supporting programs and strategies to reduce employment barriers for immigrants; analyzing economic and demographic trends; and establish best practices for language-access initiatives for all state agencies. 

The bill also amends the list of documents that can be used to verify an immigrant’s identity when applying for a driver’s license. For instance, under the bill, a foreign government passport, birth certificate or national ID card would be acceptable, as well as a marriage license or an income tax return. The bill also bars the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles from sharing photographs and related information with any immigration-enforcement agency, such as CBP or ICE, without a lawful court order or a judicial warrant signed by a judge, among other restrictions.

Another part of the bill would prohibit immigration agencies and their agents from conducting enforcement activities within 500 feet of public and private schools, childcare facilities and religious institutions, “except in cases of exigent circumstances when immediate action is necessary to prevent harm or death.” The bill also incorporates restrictions on face coverings for immigration officers as outlined in SB 316 above.

The bill has been referred to the Commerce and Tourism Committee, Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development and the Fiscal Policy Committee. Rep. Dotie Joseph sponsored the companion bill, HB 315, in the House.

Harris: CROWN Act

HB 235, titled the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act, or "CROWN Act," has been introduced in the legislature several times over the past few years.

The bill, which amends several Florida statutes, outlaws discrimination against public school students from kindergarten through the university level based on a protected hairstyle, typically associated with race, like afros, braids, locks or twists.  

According to the bill, “A student may not be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under any public K-20 education program or activity on the basis of a protected hairstyle.” 

In an opinion piece for VoxPopuli, Keisha Mulfort, a senior communications strategist at the ACLU of Florida, recently wrote, “Whether it’s school administrators policing little Black girls’ braids, or employers side-eyeing locs during interviews, the message is the same: our natural selves aren’t welcome. Let’s call that what it is — discrimination. And it’s not just about hair. It’s about the ways our society still codifies whiteness as the standard. A ‘polished’ look often means ‘straight hair,’ and ‘professionalism’ too often translates to anti-Blackness in disguise.” 

Pennsylvania became the 28th state to pass the CROWN Act and is awaiting Gov. Josh Shapiro’s signature, according to several news media reports. Harris is one of three co-sponsors of the bill, which was co-introduced by House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell (D-District 67) and Daryl Campbell (D-District 99). The bill has been referred to the Education Administration Subcommittee within the Education and Employment and the Judiciary Committee’s Civil Justice and Claims Subcommittee. State Sen. Shevrin Jones (D-34) sponsored the companion bill SB 252.