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Florida House speaker urges focus on major reforms, orders insurance subcommittee probe
Summary
On opening day of the 2025 regular session, Speaker Daniel Perez urged members to prioritize substantive legislation, tasked the insurance and banking subcommittee with hearings that may include subpoenas, and challenged budget chairs to find recurring savings.
Speaker Daniel Perez, Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, opened the 2025 regular session by urging members to focus on substantive, system-level reforms and to avoid symbolic measures.
"Over the next 60 days, we will execute our constitutional duties," Perez said, adding that he would not center his speakership on a single House bill. "There is no house bill 1, nor is there a house bill 3 or 5 or 7 or 9. I will not find meaning for my speakership in personal priorities."
Perez framed the session as a moment to tackle large problems rather than pursue incremental or symbolic fixes. He singled out property insurance as an immediate priority and said he had asked the insurance and banking subcommittee to hold hearings. "They will have access to the full range of tools, including issuing subpoenas, putting witnesses under oath, and hiring outside experts," Perez said.
The speaker encouraged committee members to bring "messy, controversial ideas" to committee so legislation could be tested and improved before reaching the floor. He also challenged budget subcommittee chairs to look for savings in recurring revenue rather than relying on one-time fixes. "I'm challenging our budget subcommittee chairs to dive into the budget and find real savings in recurring revenue," Perez said.
Perez framed the House as a watchdog and urged members to address waste, fraud, and abuses of power where found. He repeatedly emphasized that work should focus on policy with real impact for Floridians — housing, health care, public education, and public safety — and called on members to collaborate across proposals to make "good bills great." He closed by reminding members that the chamber has 60 days to complete its work.
The remarks were given at the start of the House's opening-day session; no formal committee action or vote on policy was recorded in the transcript during the speech. Perez's statements direct subcommittees and set priorities for the session but do not, by themselves, impose new legal authorities or immediate formal orders.
