Orange County officials outline priorities for 2025 session: housing, schools, transportation, public safety and courts

Local elected officials and agency leaders summarized a patchwork of legislative priorities for the 2025 session when they addressed the Orange County legislative delegation on Jan. 9. The requests spanned housing and homelessness, school funding and safety, transportation, courts and public safety, libraries, senior services and community‑based programs.

Housing and homelessness: Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the county will press to preserve home‑rule authority and seek state support for housing affordability and homelessness services. Mayor Demings noted the county recently passed an ordinance to address unlawful camping and called for state funding to help local efforts. The Orlando Housing Authority urged full funding of state housing initiatives — including the Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Fund — saying increased investment would support local redevelopment and stability for vulnerable families.

Schools and public safety: Teresa Jacobs, chair of the Orange County School Board, summarized OCPS’s 2025 legislative platform and asked for increased funding for the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP), a larger safe‑schools allocation to support school resource officers rather than arming school staff, and more transportation categorical funding to address driver shortages and rising costs. Jacobs said OCPS operates a student transportation system for more than 53,000 students and currently receives categorical funding that covers roughly half of transportation costs. Senators and representatives asked clarifying questions about school resource officer funding and alternatives to suspension programs.

Transportation: Commissioner Christine Moore and others urged the delegation to consider price escalations that are removing safety components from road projects. Commissioner Myra Uribe emphasized infrastructure maintenance, flood mitigation and the need to protect MPO authority and local planning tools.

Courts and judicial needs: Chief Judge Lisa Munoz briefed the delegation on the judiciary’s legislative budget request and asked for support for court reporting, interpreter services and certification of need for additional judges. The state Supreme Court’s certification called for 50 additional judges statewide; Munoz said three of those positions would be allocated to the Ninth Judicial Circuit (Orange County).

Public safety: Orange County Sheriff John Mina listed legislative priorities including enhancements for nuisance‑abatement penalties, increased tools to investigate “luring” incidents that are currently misdemeanors under Florida law, and stronger penalties for extreme speeding. Mina also flagged public concerns about dangerous driving and motorcycle stunts and said the sheriff’s office has used arrests and impoundments to address the behavior.

Prosecutors, defenders and court staffing: Newly elected public defender Melissa Vickers and representatives of the state attorney’s office outlined staffing and pay challenges. Vickers said the public defender’s office would request codifying a $75,000 starting salary for assistant public defenders to attract and retain lawyers; currently the starting salary in the Ninth Circuit was noted as about $65,000. Camilla Perry, executive director for the state attorney’s office, said the office is experiencing high turnover and a large share of attorneys have fewer than three years’ experience; the office will ask for additional FTEs and pay adjustments to stabilize staffing.

Libraries, seniors and non‑profits: Orange County Library System director Steve Powell requested renewal of library construction grants and noted an Orange County application seeking $500,000 for a Horizon West branch; without state grants, local library projects face larger budgets funded fully at the local level. Karla Radka of the Senior Resource Alliance urged support for programs that allow seniors to age in place, including meals on wheels and home repair and caregiver support. Nonprofits such as Family Partnerships of Central Florida and the Mount Pleasant Community Development Corporation requested state support or appropriations for child‑welfare and community development projects.

Higher education and tourism: UCF President Alexander Cartwright thanked legislators for recent operational support and asked for increased operational and nonrecurring funding to expand engineering and technology programs and renovate academic facilities. A Visit Orlando representative outlined tourism’s economic impact and reiterated that restrictions on the tourist development tax (TDT) limit some local options for addressing workforce housing and public safety; several legislators expressed interest in bills to give Orange County greater flexibility over TDT revenues.

Ending

Speakers left the delegation with a long list of budget and statutory requests. Delegation members signaled support for many requests but repeatedly asked for more specific cost estimates and implementation plans before committing to legislative language.