Sen. Don Gaetz

Ethics; Prohibiting candidates, elected public officers, appointed public officers, and public employees from knowingly misrepresenting their Armed Forces of the United States service records, awards, or qualifications or wearing any uniform, medal, or insignia that they are not authorized to wear; requiring the Attorney General to attempt to determine whether an individual owing certain penalties is a current public officer or public employee, etc.

State Land Management; Citing this act as the “State Park Preservation Act”; requiring public hearings for all updated conservation and nonconservation land management plans; requiring the Division of Recreation and Parks of the Department of Environmental Protection to comply with specified provisions when granting certain privileges, leases, concessions, and permits; requiring that individual management plans for parcels located within state parks be developed and updated with input from an advisory group, etc.

Amendments to the State Constitution; Requiring the Secretary of State to have received the ballot summary and the full text of the proposed revision or amendment to the State Constitution from the sponsor and to have received the financial impact statement from the Financial Impact Estimating Conference before submitting an initiative petition to the Attorney General; revising the criteria that the Attorney General uses when petitioning the Supreme Court for an advisory opinion related to a proposed revision or amendment to the State Constitution, etc.

Disability History and Awareness Instruction; Citing this act as the "Evin B. Hartsell Act"; requiring the Department of Education to develop specified curricula; authorizing the department to consult with the Evin B. Hartsell Foundation to further develop such curricula, etc.

Veterans’ Nursing Homes; Defining the term “veteran- and spouse-designated nursing home beds”; authorizing the executive director of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to approve requests to create or modify veteran- and spouse-designated nursing home beds if certain conditions are met; authorizing the department to adopt rules, etc.

Sexual Images; Prohibiting a person from possessing with the intent to promote specified depictions that include a lewd or lascivious image; prohibiting a person from knowingly soliciting specified depictions of child pornography; prohibiting a person from knowingly possessing, controlling, or intentionally viewing a visual depiction he or she knows includes an altered sexual depiction of an identifiable minor; providing criminal penalties for persons who possess with the intent to promote an altered sexual depiction of an identifiable person without the consent of the identifiable person, etc.

Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Senator Geraldine F. “Geri” Thompson; Recognizing and celebrating the life and legacy of Senator Geraldine F. “Geri” Thompson, etc.

Maddy summarySB 376 amends Florida law to clarify that courts must consider information provided by a guardian ad litem (GAL) in child-related cases, including their written reports and testimony. The bill requires GALs to file reports at least 20 days before hearings (unless waived by the court), detailing the child’s wishes and recommendations, and ensures GALs receive all relevant case documents. This directly affects courts, GALs, and children involved in family court matters like custody or abuse cases, ensuring their input is formally weighed. The bill was introduced in January 2025 but withdrawn before committee consideration and has no current legislative status.

Maddy summarySB 90 would delete existing provisions that allow certain non-resident students, including undocumented students who attended Florida high school for three consecutive years, to pay in-state tuition rates at Florida public colleges and universities. The bill targets the current law (Section 1009.26, subsection (12)) which requires institutions to waive out-of-state fees for qualifying students meeting specific criteria, such as Florida high school attendance and timely enrollment. If enacted, this would eliminate the fee waiver program, meaning affected students would no longer pay resident tuition rates. The bill was withdrawn before introduction on February 18, 2025, and is not active.