In the weeks and months leading up to the official start of the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers have been meeting in committees.
What are Legislative Committees?
There are panels on agriculture, criminal justice, health policy, etc.
“There’s the budget committee, the commerce, the education and employment, health and human services," explained Florida State University political science professor Andy Ballard.
The 2025 Legislative Session is just one week away! We are working hard to pass policies that strengthen our state. #FlaPol pic.twitter.com/Vo6rO6z0gM
— Jim Boyd (@JimBoydFL) February 26, 2025
This year, the Senate has 26 committees. The House has even more..
“There are meetings of all of the committees to plan the legislation that they will work on during the session," said Ballard.
Ballard told WFSU in an interview on Monday, Feb. 17, that legislative committees play an important role in the lawmaking process.
The Legislature uses committees (Joint, Select, & Special) to identify which proposals lawmakers want to work on each year. They also vet and amend bills, and ultimately send them on to the legislative chambers where they have a chance of becoming law.
Ballard describes this way of doing things as a “bargaining process.”
“Each party decides which of their members goes to which committee," he said.
Why are committees important?
According to Professor Ballard, lawmakers are generally appointed to these committees based on their party affiliation, personal preferences, or their work and education background. He said it’s an important role to play.
"You would have the entire body considering every bill, and that is incredibly inefficient," explained Ballard.
"You want to have some sort of delegation or division of labor, so that everybody isn’t dealing with every bill.”
Ballard said that it’s also a powerful role to play, especially for the committee chairs who are usually members of the party in charge.
Right now in Florida, that’s the Republican party.
“The membership from each of the chambers is skewed towards whoever has more members in that chamber—whoever is in the majority," said Ballard.
Are committees really looking at every bill?
No, not every bill gets looked at. And if a committee won’t review a bill, that measure can’t move forward in the process. That means chairs can stop a proposal from becoming law without that measure even getting a vote. There are many reasons that could happen, according to Professor Ballard.
“Either it’s because it’s something people couldn’t come to enough agreement on, or it could be something like [committees] really want to do a certain type of immigration reform, but that would mean they wouldn’t have money to fund a certain health care initiative that as group, they think is more important.”
How can I keep up with bills and committee meetings?
For anyone who wants to know what the Florida Legislature is planning this year, looking at what bills and ideas lawmakers are discussing in committee is a good place to start.
Florida’s 2025 legislative session starts Tuesday, March 4.
