The legislative session is set to begin Jan. 13.

• Florida lawmakers have filed several bills for the 2026 legislative session to strengthen religious expression rights.
• One proposed bill would protect employees from being disciplined over religious beliefs against “gender ideology.”
• Another measure seeks to amend the state constitution to protect students and staff who express religious beliefs in public schools.

The First Amendment’s freedom of religious expression is appearing among a variety of bills in Florida’s upcoming legislative session, set to begin Jan. 13.

Specifically, lawmakers filed bills for the 2026 session that would create new Florida law or amend the state’s Constitution in efforts to strengthen the right of religious expression.

No doubt some advocates will disagree.

More: Florida session: DeSantis looks to cement legacy but trainwreck may loom

For instance, one bill called the “Freedom of Conscience in the Workplace Act,” proposed by Rep. Rachel Plakon, R-Longwood, would ban employers from disciplining employees based on deeply held religious beliefs against “gender ideology.”

It was introduced last year and died in committee, and Equality Florida said at the time that the measure doubled down on “anti-transgender rhetoric.”

Some of these measures come in response to a conservative push to counter LGBTQ+ positions seen as in conflict with deeply-held religious beliefs. A notable decision for this cause came from the U.S. Supreme Court, after it said public school parents could exempt their children from discussions on LGBTQ+ issues in classrooms.

Republicans enter the 60-day session having an advantage of a supermajority in Florida’s House and Senate, since votes along party lines could advance the conservative-led push uplifting religious beliefs.

More: Florida attorney general sparks debate on religious discrimination

Religious expression bills filed for 2026 Florida legislative session

Here’s a list of bills and resolutions, as of Jan. 9, filed so far that include religious expression measures:

• HJR 583 (filed by Rep. Chase Tramont, R-Port Orange, and Berny Jacques, R-Clearwater): A resolution that would amend the state constitution to provide protection from discrimination for students and school personnel who express religious beliefs in public schools.
• HB 641 (filed by Rep. Rachel Plakon, R-Longwood): Would prohibit employers from disciplining employees or contractors due to “deeply held religious, moral, conscience-based, or biology-based beliefs against gender ideology.”
• HB 835 (filed by Rep. David Borrero, R-Doral): Would prohibit schools from discriminating against students or school personnel based on political, religious or ideological viewpoint expression.
• HB 1227 (filed by Rep. Vanessa Oliver, R-Punta Gorda): Would prohibit counties and municipalities from adopting or enforcing ordinances, regulations, resolutions or rules that could substantially burden free exercise of religion.

One person reported, “95 between Melbourne and viera all smokey. Visibility is decent.”

Another added, “I work at Gordon food services and it’s so smoky on 192 . Prayers.”

A third resident wrote, “Fountainhead neighborhood in Melbourne has ALOT of smoke in it…. near Dustins BBQ.”

Another person asked, “Okay I’m here at work on Palm Bay road and I smell smoke really bad something is on fire badddd…. Does anyone know whats goin on?”

Another resident wrote, “Yeah I left to run to hair cuttery/publix at heritage square and I come out and it’s super smokey. Pace is really bad.”

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One resident reported on Facebook, “For those concerned about the burning i called to confirm, its a controlled burn just the wind is carrying the smoke everywhere. This is what the non emergency line confirmed but it seems there are multiple fires. One at the apartment building near Henry Ave, a house fire in cocoa, an industrial building closer to the coast and then the control fire at the wild refuge. It makes sense with the amount of smoke and the wind why palm bay is severely covered.”

Authorities have not yet officially confirmed the same.

More information is expected as officials continue to assess the situation.

Florida’s 2026 Legislative Session opens Tuesday under the unmistakable shadow of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ final full year in office before term limits require a change in Tallahassee.

After DeSantis first took office in 2019, he set about reshaping Florida government, particularly following the COVID pandemic. Under his tenure, Florida has consistently ranked near the top in national comparisons for higher education, business formation and tourism — metrics the administration regularly touts as evidence of economic strength and growth.

At the same time, DeSantis’ policymaking has been deeply polarizing. From education reforms focused on culture-war fights and exerting influence over public universities, to aggressive immigration enforcement initiatives and high-profile clashes with Disney, his agenda has sharpened the state’s political divide.

He also exerted arguably the most power over the Legislature as any Governor in modern Florida history. But notably, entering his final year in office, that influence has waned.

Once viewed as a GOP rising star nationwide, his standing in the broader Republican electorate diminished after a decisive 2024 Presidential Primary loss. And he hasn’t appeared to foster a successor to take over once he departs office (more on that later).

Of course, the Regular Session won’t be the only chance for DeSantis to flex his policy muscle, with multiple Special Sessions apparently on the horizon (more on that later as well). This year will feature plenty of opportunities for DeSantis to either reassert his legacy — whether it be with property taxes, redistricting or elsewhere — or be stonewalled again by GOP lawmakers showing a renewed willingness to assert their authority.

As the gavel falls Tuesday, the focus will be on policy and process. But beneath it all run decisions that will help define how Florida remembers the DeSantis era.

Now, it’s onto our weekly game of winners and losers.

Winners

Honorable mention: Miami Hurricanes. The Miami Hurricanes have once again earned the chance to do something that has eluded the program for more than two decades: being crowned the top team in college football.

Nothing is a done deal yet, but Miami’s path to the championship has been especially notable. They defeated Texas A&M in Round 1 after many — especially Notre Dame fans — argued the College Football Committee never should have let Miami in the Playoff in the first place.

Their Round 2 matchup featured a face-off with last year’s champions, the Ohio State Buckeyes. Coincidentally, that’s the same team Miami played in their last championship game, when the referees robbed the Hurricanes of a second straight title on a ridiculous pass interference call on what should’ve been the game’s final play.

Consider that robbery avenged after the Hurricanes dominated a team many saw as the best in college football.

Cut to the semifinal matchup against a Cinderella team in Ole Miss in what turned out to be a classic. The site of that game? The Fiesta Bowl, the site of that aforementioned robbery. The Canes once again were victorious.

Having excised all demons, Miami will now play for the title in a de facto home game, with the championship game having been scheduled at Hard Rock Stadium, where the Hurricanes play at home during the regular season.

For a program that once defined the sport’s cutting edge, the moment carries weight well beyond a single postseason run. Miami’s path to the title game capped a season in which the Hurricanes moved from “improving” to “arrived,” navigating a playoff field designed to reward consistency, depth and resilience rather than brand name alone. In a new CFP era with expanded access and little margin for error, Miami cleared every bar put in front of it.

The playoff run has also brought plenty of financial upside through revenue, television exposure and merchandising, while reinforcing the university’s profile as a blue-blood program..

Miami has cycled through coaches and rebuilds since its last national title appearance. Advancing to the championship suggests the current approach — from roster construction to player development — is finally producing results that longtime fans have been waiting for.

Florida used to be the pinnacle of college football. Miami has a chance next week to cap off a miracle run and perhaps launch a new era of Sunshine State dominance. But for a team that wasn’t even expected to qualify for the College Football Playoff, they’re already playing with house money.

Almost (but not quite) the biggest winner: Charlie Crist. Crist didn’t announce an official comeback this week. He didn’t hold a rally or roll out a policy platform. But the numbers did plenty of talking on his behalf.

A political committee tied to Crist reported raising more than $725,000 in just seven weeks — an amount that appears to be unprecedented at this stage of a municipal contest in St. Petersburg and one that instantly elevated his potential candidacy for Mayor.

The committee’s report showed dozens of maxed-out checks and a donor list that looked far more like a statewide campaign than a municipal one. Labor groups, trial lawyers, longtime Democratic donors and Crist allies from across Florida all showed up early, and they showed up big.

In local races, money tends to trickle in slowly. Not here.

The fundraising answers lingering questions about Crist’s post-Congress political viability. After losses at the gubernatorial level and years away from local office, skeptics wondered whether donor enthusiasm would follow him home.

This report suggests the network is intact — and eager. The early surge suggests Crist can tap networks far beyond the city limits once he chooses to move forward, giving him plenty of resources to take on an incumbent Mayor.

The biggest winner: Marco Rubio. Rubio and the rest of the Donald Trump administration are celebrating what could be one of the most consequential foreign policy developments in recent U.S. history: the United States carrying out a military operation in Caracas that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

Rubio’s role in shaping the U.S. response to Maduro long predates this week’s events. The Florida Republican has spent more than a decade making Venezuela a focal point of his foreign policy agenda. As a Senator, Rubio was an early and persistent critic of the Maduro regime, accusing it of narcoterrorism, corruption and electoral fraud and pushing for escalating sanctions, asset freezes and economic pressure on Caracas.

In 2025, the U.S. government doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million — the largest bounty ever placed on a foreign head of state — a move aligned with Rubio’s “maximum pressure” strategy.

Now Secretary of State, Rubio has articulated a three‑phase strategy for Venezuela post-Maduro that begins with stabilization, moves through economic recovery and aims toward a political transition. Central to that plan is leveraging control over Venezuelan oil revenues — an idea Rubio emphasized in congressional briefings and press statements this week.

In the days since Maduro’s capture, interim Venezuelan authorities have begun releasing political prisoners and signaled tentative cooperation with U.S. officials on diplomatic and oil‑sector matters, a dramatic shift from years of hostility.

There has been plenty of legitimate criticism of the U.S. conducting a military strike in a sovereign capital, particularly given Trump’s years of public aversion to regime change and forever wars.

But the administration is banking on this being a success, and if it is, Rubio’s fingerprints are all over it. His sustained focus on Venezuela helped shape the strategic framing and congressional briefing process behind the scenes, and this week’s outcomes reflect a culmination of years of advocacy on the issue.

Losers

Dishonorable mention: Jay Collins. The latest polling data of the 2026 Governor’s race is making it increasingly clear that the Lieutenant Governor’s prospects of gaining traction in the contest are sputtering.

A new Fabrizio, Lee & Associates survey lays out a GOP Primary contest where U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds holds a commanding lead among likely Republican voters — not just ahead of the pack, but far ahead in nearly every hypothetical matchup. In polling that included Collins, Donalds led him by nearly 40 points, with Donalds posting 45% support to Collins’ 6%.

Recent snapshots of the gubernatorial Primary landscape show Donalds consistently dominating the field, while contenders such as Collins, Paul Renner and others have mostly remained mired in low single digits.

For Collins, the numbers are stark: Despite a high-profile television ad buy in late 2025 and periodic commentary aimed at distinguishing himself from Donalds on issues, the polling needle hasn’t budged.

In a crowded GOP primary where Donalds has the Trump endorsement, sizable early fundraising and sustained public support, Collins faces a steep uphill climb just to break out of the single-digits. At this stage of the race, Collins’ potential run for Governor is looking less and less wise.

Almost (but not quite) the biggest loser: Miccosukee Tribe. Congress failed to override Trump’s veto of a bill designed to provide flood protections and land status clarification for the tribe’s Osceola Camp area in the Everglades.

The legislation at the center of the fight, the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act, was a bipartisan measure introduced by U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez that had cleared both the House and Senate without opposition. The bill would have formally expanded the Miccosukee Reserved Area to include Osceola Camp, which has long been home to tribal members.

But late last month, Trump used his veto power — one of his first vetoes of his second term — to reject the measure, casting it as an unnecessary taxpayer burden and linking it to the Tribe’s opposition to Alligator Alcatraz in the Everglades. In his veto message, the President argued the Tribe “has actively sought to obstruct reasonable immigration policies” and that federal support for the project wasn’t warranted.

When lawmakers attempted to override that veto Thursday, they fell short of the two-thirds majority required in the House. The vote to uphold Trump’s decision fell at 236-188, with enough GOP members siding with the President to prevent the override.

The biggest loser: Post-Session vacation plans. If anyone was hoping to pencil in a quiet Spring getaway once the Legislature gavels out, this week delivered a reality check.

Florida’s Regular Session hasn’t even convened yet — it begins Tuesday and is scheduled to run until March 13 — but the calendar is already filling up beyond Sine Die. Gov. Ron DeSantis has formally called one Special Session for April to take up redistricting, and he has openly floated another focused on property tax changes.

The April Special Session is locked in. Lawmakers will be called back to Tallahassee to redraw congressional maps after an expected major decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. That alone would be enough to complicate travel plans for legislators, staffers, lobbyists and the press corps who typically treat March as the finish line. But DeSantis’ comments about a possible property tax Special Session suggest the April return trip may not be the last.

Property taxes are a politically heavy lift, one that would require significant debate, bill drafting and negotiation. If the Governor follows through, that means another round of committee-style work, floor sessions and late nights — all after lawmakers have already logged the usual grind of 60 days — or more.

Multiple Special Sessions will compress the expected downtime this year or erase it altogether. And don’t forget about the August Primary and Midterm Elections come November.

DeSantis has shown a willingness to use Special Sessions as an extension of his governing strategy, keeping lawmakers engaged — and available — to advance priorities on his timetable.

That may be useful for a Governor trying to maintain momentum and fight off lame-duck status. But for anyone hoping March would mark the end of long days, crowded calendars and burning hotel points in Tallahassee, you might want to keep the suitcase handy.