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The Florida House and Senate adjourned late in the evening on Friday, May 2. Due to delays in negotiating the budget, state lawmakers will return to Tallahassee on May 12 to negotiate and pass the 2025-26 fiscal year spending plan, tax relief package, and rural development. A summary of the final status of FCCB budget priorities will be provided after the budget is passed.

Pope Francis passed away early in the morning of April 21, at the age of 88. The FCCB released the following statement, joining Catholics around the world in mourning the Holy Father and reflecting on his legacy:

SB 1804, sponsored by Senator Jonathan Martin (R-Fort Myers) would make the sex trafficking of children under 12 or persons who are mentally incapacitated a capital felony, which could result in a death sentence. The bill was passed by its final committee of reference, Fiscal Policy, on Tuesday, April 22 by a 15-4 vote.

HB 653, sponsored by Representative Jeff Holcomb (R-Spring Hill) was passed by the full House on Thursday, April 24 by a 99-13 vote. The measure would add a new aggravating factor if the victim was a head of state, or bystander in an attempt to kill a head of state. The bill has been sent to the Senate.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice considered a bill that would make sex trafficking of children under 12 or persons who are mentally incapacitated a capital felony, which could result in a death sentence. Senator Jonathan Martin (R-Fort Myers), sponsor of SB 1804, presented the bill to the committee on Tuesday, April 15.

Two bills that would create an additional aggravating factor for capital felonies, potentially expanding the application of the death penalty, advanced through Senate committees this week. SB 984, sponsored by Senator Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota), was passed (14-3) by the Fiscal Policy Committee on Thursday, April 17.

HB 1517, sponsored by Representative Sam Greco, (R-Palm Coast) achieved final passage in the House on April 9 by a 79-32 vote. The bill would allow parents to recover monetary damages, including medical and funeral expenses as well as payment for mental pain and suffering, from a person who is responsible for the unborn child’s death. The wrongful act could occur, for example, during a car accident, due to an incident of medical malpractice, or by other careless, neglectful actions of another.

On April 8, HB 1283, sponsored by Representative Berny Jacques (R-Clear Water), was considered by the House Judiciary Committee. The bill would make sex trafficking of children under 12 or persons who are mentally incapacitated a capital felony, which could result in a death sentence.

On April 10, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice approved SB 984, sponsored by Senator Joe Gruters (R-Miami), by a 6-2 vote. In Florida, when a person is found guilty of a capital crime, in order to recommend a sentence of death, the jury must unanimously find at least two “aggravating factors,” which are listed in the Florida Statutes. This proposed legislation would add a new aggravating factor for capital felonies when the victim was gathered with one or more people for a school activity, religious activity, or public government meeting.

This week marks the 2025 National Crime Victims' Rights Week, an annual commemoration recognizing the widespread need for victim-centered responses to harm, crime, and violence. Catholic Mobilizing Network has gathered resources to help us find solidarity with victims and survivors of crime, as well as choose life over death and healing over revenge.