How the Florida Legislature Makes Law

Florida state law is made by the Florida Legislature, a two-chamber body of a 40-member Senate and a 120-member House of Representatives (Florida Senate glossary).

Senators serve four-year terms and must live in the district they represent; the Florida Senate list for the 2024 to 2026 term shows 40 Senators, led by Senate President Ben Albritton of District 27, which covers Charlotte, DeSoto and Hardee counties and parts of Lee and Polk (Florida Senate). Jason Brodeur of District 10 is President Pro Tempore (Florida Senate).

Article III, section 15 of the Florida Constitution staggers Senate elections: senators from odd-numbered districts are elected in years that are multiples of four, and those from even-numbered districts in the other even-numbered years. Members of the Florida House are elected for terms of two years in each even-numbered year (Florida Constitution).

Each Florida legislator must be at least twenty-one years of age, an elector and resident of the district, and a resident of the state for two years before the election (Art. III, s. 15). Article VI, section 4, as amended by an initiative petition adopted in 1992, keeps a Florida representative or Florida senator off the ballot for the same office if by the end of the current term the person will have served eight consecutive years in it (Florida Constitution). The Constitution also lets the Legislature draw between thirty and forty Senate districts and between eighty and one hundred twenty House districts after each census (Art. III, s. 16).

The Florida Legislature meets in a 60-day regular session every year, starting in March in odd-numbered years and in January in even-numbered years (Florida Constitution).

The exact rule in the Florida Constitution: it convenes on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March of odd-numbered years and on the second Tuesday after the first Monday in January of even-numbered years (Art. III, s. 3).

For the coming year, the Florida Senate calendar gives Tuesday, March 2, 2027 as the opening day of the Regular Session (Florida Senate). A regular session may not exceed sixty consecutive days, and a special session may not exceed twenty, unless three-fifths of each house vote to extend it; during an extension no new business may be taken up without the consent of two-thirds of the membership (Florida Constitution).

Between sessions the Florida Legislature is in the interim, the period between the sine die adjournment of one regular session and the convening of the next (Florida Senate glossary). Committees still meet then: the Florida Senate has posted a 2026-2027 Interim Committee Meeting Schedule, with weekly schedules and meeting notices posted before each meeting (Florida Senate).

Organization sessions are where leadership changes. In November of each even-numbered year the Florida Legislature convenes for the sole purpose of organizing each house, and at that session members are sworn in, officers are elected and rules are adopted (Florida Senate FAQ). The Constitution names the presiding officers the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Art. III, s. 2).

A Florida bill becomes law after a legislator sponsors it, committees review it, both houses pass the same text (Florida Senate), and the Governor signs it or fails to veto it in time (Florida Constitution, Article III, section 8).

Either house of the Florida Legislature may originate any type of legislation. After filing, a bill is referred to one or more committees related to its subject, and each committee decides whether it should be amended, pass or fail; if passed, it moves to the next committee of reference or to the full house (Florida Senate). Committee staff write a bill analysis that explains current law, the likely impact of the bill and any constitutional issues (Florida Senate glossary).

A heavily amended Florida bill is rewritten as a committee substitute, marked CS, and a second rewrite becomes CS/CS, while the bill keeps its original number (Florida Senate glossary). House bills receive odd numbers with the prefix HB, and Senate bills receive even numbers with the prefix SB (Florida Senate FAQ). Sponsors often file companion bills, substantially identical bills in each chamber that move through committees at the same time (Florida Senate glossary).

On the floor, the Florida Constitution requires every bill to be read in each house on three separate days, unless two-thirds vote to waive the rule, and passage requires a majority vote in each house (Art. III, s. 7). Each law must embrace only one subject, briefly expressed in its title (Art. III, s. 6). If the second chamber amends the bill, it returns to the first, and a bill can go back and forth between the Florida Senate and House until a consensus is reached (Florida Senate).

A version that carries adopted floor amendments is an engrossed bill. Once both houses approve the same text, it becomes an enrolled bill, signed by the legislative officers and sent to the Governor (Florida Senate glossary).

After the Florida Legislature passes a bill, the Governor has 7 days to sign or veto it during session, or 15 days if the Legislature has adjourned sine die (Florida Senate FAQ).

Under Article III, section 8 of the Florida Constitution, a bill becomes law if the Governor approves and signs it or fails to veto it within seven consecutive days after presentation; if the Legislature adjourns sine die or recesses for more than thirty days during that period, the Governor has fifteen consecutive days from presentation (Florida Constitution). Sine die adjournment is the final adjournment of a Florida legislative session (Florida Senate glossary).

A Florida veto normally kills the entire bill, but in the state budget the Governor may veto any specific appropriation in a general appropriation bill (Art. III, s. 8). A vetoed act goes back to its house of origin, and if two-thirds of the members of each house vote to override, it becomes law (Florida Senate FAQ).

A new Florida law takes effect on the sixtieth day after the sine die adjournment of the session that passed it, or on another date the law itself sets (Art. III, s. 9). A law passed over the Governor's veto takes effect on the sixtieth day after sine die of the session in which the veto is overridden, on a later date fixed in the law, or on a date fixed by resolution of both houses (Florida Constitution).

The Florida Legislature proposes a constitutional amendment by joint resolution passed by three-fifths of each house, and a local bill needs published notice or a referendum (Florida Constitution).

A joint resolution, marked SJR or HJR, is the only method by which the Florida Legislature may propose amendments to the State Constitution, and if passed, the proposed amendment appears on a statewide ballot for voter approval or rejection (Florida Senate glossary). The full text of the joint resolution and the vote of each member must be entered on the journal of each Florida house (Art. XI, s. 1).

Florida local bills, also called special acts, apply to an area or group that is less than the total area or population of the state (Florida Senate glossary). No special law may pass unless notice of intent to seek it has been published as general law provides, and that notice is not needed when the law takes effect only after a referendum (Art. III, s. 10). Proof of publication, a verified newspaper notice, is attached to the filed Florida local bill (Florida Senate glossary). Article III, section 11 lists subjects the Florida Legislature may not address by special law at all (Florida Constitution).

After the November 3, 2026 general election, the Florida Legislature convenes on the fourteenth day for organization and selection of officers (Florida Constitution; Florida Division of Elections).

The Florida Division of Elections lists Election Day as November 3, 2026, with the mandatory early voting period from October 24 to 31, 2026 (Florida Division of Elections). House members are elected for two-year terms in each even-numbered year (Art. III, s. 15), and the House roster shows the 2024 to 2026 terms ending 11/03/26 (Florida House).

The Florida House roster also shows vacancies. As of October 15, 2026 it lists Districts 55, 78, 113 and 116 as Pending Election, and its list of members who served a partial term shows Daniel Perez, District 116, with service ending 08/21/26 (Resigned), while the roster heading still reads Representatives for 2024 - 2026 (Speaker Perez) (Florida House). The Florida Senate list still shows Ben Albritton as President for the 2024 to 2026 term (Florida Senate).

The Florida Senate bill search lists sessions 2026D, 2026E and 2026F alongside the 2026 regular session (Florida Senate). A practical tip: the bill page on flsenate.gov shows floor and committee votes for each bill, and the Journal is the official record of each house (Florida Senate FAQ).

Last verified: October 15, 2026, against the Florida Constitution, the Florida Senate and Florida House websites and the Florida Division of Elections.