A proposal by local Florida Democratic legislators to provide state grants to small businesses that are negatively affected by government construction projects has been indefinitely postponed. It has been withdrawn from consideration, following the de facto conclusion of Florida’s 2025 state legislative session.
Florida’s 60-day legislative session began March 4 and was scheduled to conclude last Friday, May 2. State lawmakers, however, will reconvene in Tallahassee next week for an “overtime” session to hammer out a state budget for the next fiscal year.
Still, all but a select few bills that hadn’t been passed ahead of last Friday effectively died over the weekend.
Among the deceased are bills filed by Orlando’s Rep. Anna Eskamani (HB 215) and Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith (SB 324) that sought to provide small business owners with an opportunity for relief if their business is negatively impacted by a construction project.
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The legislation was inspired in part by the closure of Orlando’s Hammered Lamb, a beloved Ivanhoe Village restaurant that shuttered in January. The restaurant and bar, known for its Sunday drag brunches across from Lake Ivanhoe, suffered losses due in part to the logistical nightmare created by a road construction project that dragged on for more than 16 months along Orange Avenue.
“To the people who have worked with us and made this place a home for so many — without you, this wouldn’t have existed,” reads an Instagram post from the Hammered Lamb, announcing their final hurrah. “We’re grateful for every single one of you and the heart you’ve poured into The Lamb over the years.”
The pair of lawmakers initially proposed the creation of a state grant program that could offer construction-related disruption assistance, but later revised the proposal to establish a low-interest loan program within the state Department of Commerce. The program would have provided low-interest loans of up to $100,000 for operational costs of small businesses during disruptions related to state or local government construction activities.
Eligible businesses for the program would have included small businesses with 50 or fewer employees who could provide demonstrable proof of their losses, as well as photo or video evidence of the obstruction in question. The program would have required small businesses to consult the Florida Small Business Development Center Network as a condition of their participation, and would have prohibited participation if the business was eligible for other loan programs.
Eskamani, who’s also running for Orlando mayor, told Orlando Weekly that she and fellow bill sponsor Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith “do want to continue to see if there is some sort of path forward” on securing assistance for small businesses through budget work they’ll be taking up over the next month.
“The chances of that are going to be definitely, I would say 50-50,” Eskamani admitted, particularly in a state Legislature where Democrats (and progressives like herself) are the minority.
“Everything’s kind of up in the air right now, but I do want to work with Senator Smith to see if there’s any way that we can get support for small businesses through this concept in the budget versus a standalone policy bill.”
Otherwise, both Smith and Eskamani confirmed they plan to refile the bills for reconsideration next session.
“Locally owned businesses impacted by lengthy public works construction cannot be ignored,” Smith told Orlando Weekly in a statement. “I’m grateful to the small businesses who organized in support of SB 324 and helped get it passed through two Senate committees unanimously this year. We heard their call to action, and will continue working this issue next session.”
Derailed by infighting
The proposal for a construction disruption assistance loan program was fully ignored by the Florida House, not earning a single committee hearing. But Smith’s version in the Senate cleared two legislative committees with unanimous support — earning bipartisan approval.
Still, more than three-quarters of bills filed by state lawmakers this year failed to cross the finish line by session’s scheduled end. According to the News Service of Florida, only 250 out of 1,770 bills (14 percent) filed for consideration this year were ultimately passed by both legislative chambers.
The legislative session was derailed in part due to infighting among Republican leaders, and a scandal that erupted involving a charity affiliated with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ wife (and rumored candidate for governor), Casey.
“It was a very unprecedented session,” Eskamani admitted in an interview, “in the sense of the tension with the governor, but it also resulted in things moving more slowly than you would expect.”
Another proposal filed by Eskamani and Smith that garnered bipartisan support was similarly derailed. House Bill 311 and Senate Bill 412, dubbed the “Right to Repair Act,” sought to empower motorized-wheelchair users with access to the information they need to repair their own wheelchairs.
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Currently, that information is guarded by private equity-owned wheelchair manufacturers that profit off the current system of restricting consumers and independent repair shops from accessing the necessary software, tools, parts and service manuals they need to do their own repairs.
Instead, wheelchair users are forced to beg the manufacturer for assistance and new parts — a process that can, in some cases, take months or even years.
“I know of somebody that waited six months to get a seat belt repaired on their chair,” said Laura-Lee Minutello, a public policy analyst for Disability Rights Florida, speaking to a panel of senators in March. “A seat belt is a part that you can get and screw on yourself,” she pointed out. “They cost about $20.”
That legislation passed the Florida House with unanimous support from Democrats and Republicans — an achievement that bill sponsor Eskamani celebrated. Still, the legislation stalled in the Florida Senate.
Smith’s version cleared its first committee with unanimous support. But according to Eskamani, the chair of the second committee SB 412 was assigned to — Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Lake Mary — had concerns about the bill and decided not to schedule it for a hearing.
Smith, when reached by Orlando Weekly, deferred to Brodeur for comment on the matter. Brodeur, sharing a statement through his legislative aide, didn’t deny his opposition.
“I have concerns about forcing manufacturers to share trade secrets with third-party repair shops,” Brodeur said, although the legislation proposed by his colleagues included protections against this. “Beyond that, I have concerns around allowing medically compromised individuals to try and find the lowest-cost repair shop for their Class II, federally regulated medical device. We don’t allow people to have their insulin pumps repaired at the cheapest repair shops either. I am afraid of worse outcomes than longer wait times.”
Eskamani, however, believes opposition from wheelchair manufacturers played a role. “The only opposition to right-to-repair legislation, as you likely know, are manufacturers who don’t want to let go of the monopoly structure they have over — in this case — medical devices that are essential to the autonomy of people with disabilities who are wheelchair users,” she said.
Only one person — a lobbyist for the American Association for Homecare — declared opposition to the Senate bill during its one and only hearing in March. The American Association for Homecare is a lobbying group for the home medical equipment industry, and represents some of the nation’s most profitable wheelchair manufacturers.
“Power-chair owners deserve the ability to make free market choices as consumers, and that’s why we are committed to reintroducing this legislation next session,” Smith told Orlando Weekly. “These reforms ultimately bring down repair costs, shorten delays, and restore mobility for Floridians who need it.”
A silver lining
Despite tough luck in the Republican-controlled state Legislature, not all of the Orlando legislators’ bills were stonewalled this session.
A bill (SB 1514) that will ensure all public and charter schools are ready and able to administer EpiPens before, after and during school hours cleared both the House and Senate last month with unanimous support. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Smith and local Democrat Rita Harris in the Florida House, is now on its way to the governor’s desk for his signature.
“It’s vital that we ensure our public schools understand the risk of anaphylaxis and have a plan, should a child be exposed to a triggering allergen,” Smith said in a statement. “This legislation also gives parents peace of mind that their child can safely participate in before, during, and after school activities in an environment where school personnel are ready and able to administer EpiPens in case of a medical emergency.”
Rep. Harris also secured another legislative win with the passage of Gage’s Law (HB 1195), a bill — already signed into law by DeSantis — that will require hospitals to test for fentanyl in cases of suspected overdose.
More than 5,000 people died of drug overdose in Florida last year alone, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bulk of overdose deaths here and nationwide have been linked to fentanyl, a highly potent opioid painkiller that’s at least 50 times more powerful than heroin.
Harris’s bill, sponsored by South Florida Sen. Tina Polsky in the Senate, was named after 29-year-old Orlando resident Gage Austin Taylor, who fatally overdosed after unknowingly ingesting fentanyl in 2022.
According to an obituary page, Gage worked as an attractions operator at Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. He enjoyed playing piano and held a “special place in his heart” for his two cats, T.J. and Sheebah.
That bill and the EpiPen bill will both take effect July 1.
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This article appears in May 7-13, 2025.
