November delivered major developments at every level of government. Miami-Dade saw key appointments and public pushback on major land and infrastructure decisions. In Tallahassee, lawmakers advanced contentious bills on fetal personhood, firearms, and property taxes. Federally, the shutdown ended amid intensified Executive and judicial battles.

Here are the highlights shaping Florida and the nation this month.

Local

• County Commission
  By a 7-5 vote, the Miami-Dade County Commission appointed State Representative Vicki Lopez to fill the District 5 seat formerly held by Commissioner Eileen Higgins, who resigned to run for Mayor of the city of Miami. Lopez will face an election in August to retain the seat. Her now-vacant House District 113 will be filled by special election on a date yet to be announced.

• City of Miami
  On November 20, after hearing objections from dozens of residents, Commissioners voted 4 to 1 to defer a vote on the sale of 3.2 acres of land on the south side of Watson Island to IG Luxury LLC. The $29 million price was a mere tenth of what the parcel had been appraised at just three days previously. Commissioner Christine King voted in opposition to the deferral.

• Coral Gables
  The City Beautiful is confronting a stinky problem: an environmentally friendly but extremely costly proposal to require about half of its households to upgrade their current waste disposal system. Voting in 19 separate “basins,” residents would make collective basin-by-basin decisions either to upgrade individual household septic systems or to convert to sewer. The city is holding basin-specific informational sessions, but encountering stiff opposition, given a potential price tag of $50,000 or more per household for each of the two options.

Florida:

• Legislative
  The Florida Legislature completed the fourth of six proposed Interim Committee Weeks in preparation for the start of the 2026 Legislative Session on January 13. So far, more than 500 policy bills have been filed, all of which can be tracked using our 2026 FLORIDA BILL TRACKER. Legislators have until the opening day of Session to file additional bills, with the usual annual total approaching 2000.
  
  Not many bills have been considered yet in committee. Those of note that passed at least one committee include:
  • SB 164/HB 289 (Civil Liability for the Wrongful Death of an Unborn Child), potentially a back-door path to the establishment of fetal personhood beginning at conception
  • HB 133 (Minimum Age for Firearm Purchase or Transfer), which rolls back the age 21 minimum imposed in reaction to the tragedy at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School
  • HB 17/SB 156 (Criminal Offenses Against Law Enforcement Officers and Other Personnel)
  • Multiple bills relating to property tax reform (see related article)
    
    
• Executive
  It’s not been a good month for Governor DeSantis. Two of his major priorities–the complete elimination of property tax on homesteaded properties and Congressional redistricting–seem unlikely to cross the finish line in the form he would prefer. Meanwhile, despite plenty of speculation, no DeSantis-approved candidate for Governor has filed, and the grand jury investigating the Hope Florida scandal may be nearing a decision.

Federal Government:

• Executive
  During the government shutdown, the pace of Executive Orders slowed to a trickle–the President signed only 3 between October 16 and November 13, as compared to 26 on January 20 alone. In other action, the President commuted the sentence of George Santos and pardoned Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. He suspended SNAP benefits for November, and paid military personnel using Pentagon research and development funds and a $130 million donor contribution. He tried to fire thousands of federal workers, but was blocked by a judicial restraining order. He urged the indictment of numerous political opponents and, most recently, the prosecution for sedition of several members of Congress with military service records for reminding those currently serving of their duty to disobey unlawful orders.

• Legislative:
  • From October 1-November 10, Congressional activity consisted of sporadic unsuccessful Senate budget votes. The House remained in recess, awaiting Senate approval of a continuing resolution House Republicans could support.
  • On November 10, with 7 Democrats and 1 Independent crossing party lines, the Senate passed a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through January 30, but without a guarantee of the continued health care subsidies Senate Democratic leadership had held out for. The House voted its approval on November 12, and the bill was signed into law the same day, thereby ending the government shutdown.
  • Following her swearing-in some 7 weeks after her election, Rep. Adelita Grijalva provided the final discharge petition signature necessary to trigger the release of the Epstein files. Reading the room, Trump signaled his support for the measure, and both the House and the Senate moved quickly to approve the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
  • Thus far in 2025, Congress has passed 38 bills that have been signed into law. The total in 2024 was over 200.

• Judicial: 

• • Members of the Supreme Court appeared to question the government’s defense of Presidentially-imposed tariffs during November 5 oral arguments in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump.
  • On November 7, the Court declined to review its previous ruling recognizing a constitutional right to same sex marriage. The following week it declined to consider a Florida case asserting a right to conduct a public prayer before a state championship football game.
  • On December 8 the Court will hear Trump v. Slaughter, a case involving the presidential power to fire a previously protected agency head. The issue of limits on coordinated campaign expenditures will be considered in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission on December 9.

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