State

The Problem:

The 2026 Florida Legislative Session will begin on January 13, 2026 and will end on March 13, 2026.

Not only does Florida not have a statewide law to regulate single-use plastic/foam, but Florida has preemption laws that prevent local municipalities from taking action to reduce certain single-use plastic/foam. Cities/counties have bans on bans! Cities will actually get sued if they try to completely ban polystyrene foam containers or single-use plastic retail bags. Read about our preemption laws here.

Bills have been filed in previous years to either create a statewide law to reduce things like plastic bags, straws, and polystyrene foam, and/or to repeal our preemption laws. Sadly, they do not pass. A preemption repeal bill would give power back to your local municipalities so that they can better regulate single-use plastics/foam. It’s called “home rule.”

The bills are always referred to committees in both the state House and the state Senate before it can be passed by the full Florida Legislature. The 2025 session began on March 4th and ended on May 2nd.

The Solution:

Florida either needs to pass statewide laws reducing single-use plastics or give power back to cities and counties so that they can better reduce single-use plastics.

On a statewide level, you can ask your Florida state representatives and senators to take action statewide on plastic/foam reduction, or at least remove the preemptions on plastics/foam to allow municipalities to decide for themselves whether or not to reduce single use plastics.

Emailing is a great idea, but calling their offices is even better. Save the phone numbers of your state elected officials in your phone. The office phone numbers will come in handy during the legislative session when we are supporting and opposing various bills.

2026 SB 240/HB 575 Good bill filed by Senator Garcia and Rep Weinberger (SUPPORT!):

SB 240 is good legislation that will resolve the longstanding conflict over local single-use plastic and other container regulations. The bill would:

1. Allow local governments to regulate glass, polystyrene, and single-use plastic containers on public property.
2. Grandfather in existing local ordinances.
3. Reduce the sale or distribution of certain single-use containers in State Parks.
4. Require FDEP to develop a statewide Marine Debris Reduction Plan and a uniform ordinance for single-use containers that all local governments can adopt going forward.

Great news: Senator Garcia’s Auxiliary Containers bill now has a House companion bill HB 575, thanks to Rep Meg Weinberger!

While 2025 isn’t over just yet, our legislators are already back in Tallahassee for Interim Committee Weeks working on bills for the 2026 Legislative Session. Follow Florida Springs Council’s action alerts!

2026 Harmful container bill filed (OPPOSE!):

The 2025 Legislative Session has ended. During that session, a harmful preemption bill SB 1822 was filed again (Senator Martin ). This bill would have taken us in the wrong direction in the fight against plastic pollution. We killed this disastrous preemption expansion bill 2 years in a row.

Now, in 2026, another harmful container bill has been filed by Martin and Esposito. Please ask your state lawmakers to OPPOSE SB 766/HB 629. Instead, support the Garcia/Weinberger bill. The good bill is SB 240/HB 575.

Not sure who your state lawmakers are or how to get in touch with them?

Find your FL state representative here.

Find your FL state senator here.

Does your representative agree to support or oppose a bill? Don’t forget to follow up. Always hold your elected officials accountable.

Sample email for your state lawmaker:

Dear _____,

My name is ___ and I live at ____. I am very concerned about plastic pollution, and I am outraged that there are preemptions in the state of Florida that prevent my town from passing ordinances to reduce certain single use plastics. Plastic pollution is a threat to our oceans and marine life, to human health, to climate, and to our tourism based economy. There should be statewide action to reduce single use plastics, or local municipalities should have home rule on this issue. Please take action to reduce single use plastics statewide or at least work to remove the preemptions. Please cosponsor and support SB 240/HB 575 which would be a good step forward.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

________________________

Find your representative here: https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/findyourrepresentative

State bills must advance through committees in order to pass

The 2025 Florida Legislative Session began on March 4th and lasted for 60 days. Committees meet to discuss bills, and if there isn’t public pressure to put these bills on committee agendas, they do not make it out of the committees. They may never even be heard! We need all Floridians to call the offices of the Committee Chairs and ask them to place priority bills on their meeting agendas to be considered after they are filed. Please help us with this in 2026.

The 2025 Legislative Session is over. A harmful preemption bill SB 1822/HB 565 was filed again. This bill would have taken us in the wrong direction in the fight against plastic pollution. HB 565 died in the House after being temporarily postponed during committees. Sadly, Senator Martin then filed an amendment to add this harmful preemption expansion language to HB 1609, an incinerator bill filed by Rep Meg Weinberger. Thankfully, Rep Weinberger and the Florida House refused to concur with the amendment and kept it off the bill. That bill died with no preemption expansion amendment.

We killed this disastrous preemption bill last year, and we killed it again this year. More than 50 municipalities in Florida have already taken action on single-use plastics, and this bill would prevent local governments from being able to enforce their existing policies and also prevent local governments from passing policies.

Ask your representatives to cosponsor and support a bill to repeal the preemptions and restore home rule.

SB 240: Auxiliary Containers is being voted on by the Senate Environment and Natural Resources committee on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 3:30 p.m. While 2025 isn’t over just yet, our legislators are already back in Tallahassee for Interim Committee Weeks working on bills for the 2026 Legislative Session.

CONSIDER WRITING A LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Consider writing a Letter to the Editor to be published in your local newspaper. Guidance for writing and submitting a Letter to the Editor is here. Name your elected officials in your LTE and say what you’d like them to do.

Email Governor DeSantis

You can also email Governor DeSantis. Mayor Coniglio of Palm Beach wrote to Governor DeSantis, asking for support on the issue of single-use plastics regulation. View her letter here.

The Everglades Coalition wrote a letter to Governor DeSantis urging him to take action on plastic pollution. View the letter here.

What does Governor DeSantis think about preemption on plastics? Well, the state legislature tried to preempt plastic straw laws in 2019. A bill was passed to stop local governments from enacting plastic straw ordinances. Luckily, Governor DeSantis vetoed that bad bill.

“A number of Florida municipalities, including Sanibel, Ft. Myers Beach and Miami Beach have enacted ordinances prohibiting single-use plastic straws,” DeSantis wrote in his veto letter. “These measures have not, as far as I can tell, frustrated any state policy or harmed the state’s interests. In fact, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has encouraged Florida residents, schools and businesses to reduce plastic straw use.”Read more here.

Preemptions and Home Rule

Have you ever wondered why cities ban plastic straws and not plastic bags, cups, or bottles? It’s because of preemptions.

Local resolutions:

Local resolutions are a clear expression of the opinions of coastal communities, including business leaders in those communities and local elected officials. They send a message up the political chain, and can be influential in helping state-level elected officials and even members of Congress better understand what their constituents want. Resolutions matter, and you can ask your city can pass a resolution in support of statewide plastics legislation and/or support of home rule. Even if your city isn’t ready to pass an ordinance, they may still agree with the freedom to choose.

Lobbying your legislators

(Source: Indivisible) Lobbying is organizing with the intention of influencing a lawmaker’s decision through direct interaction. It means that you are turning advocacy into action. You can lobby in your home district office (if your state has local district offices) or at the capitol. Anyone can and should lobby, even kids! Your elected officials need to hear from you all throughout the year. Save the phone numbers of elected officials. Public pressure works, and your elected officials are there to represent you. Call the offices of your state lawmakers when you want them to support or oppose a bill. Have the bill number handy when you call.

You can also lobby your lawmakers outside of the Legislative Session, when they are at home in your district. Call and schedule a meeting. This way, when the next Legislative Session begins the following year, you can say, “Remember me? Remember our conversation about reducing single-use plastics? I’d like you to cosponsor ____ this session.” It will be easier if you already have a relationship with your elected officials and their staff.

Please Participate in the Legislative Hearings in Your County

Speak in front of all of the state lawmakers in your county!

You can participate in your county’s legislative delegation hearings before the legislative session begins. At these meetings, all of the state legislators from your county are usually there, and you can speak to all of them at the same time for 2-3 minutes. It’s a good way for all of the state legislators in your county to hear your concerns about plastics, balloon releases, and preemptions, before legislative session begins. You most likely will need to sign up in advance to speak. Thank you to 1000 Friends of Florida for keeping us up to date on opportunities to speak at delegation hearings.

Rally your friends, neighbors, environmental clubs, and family members to speak. Ask your state lawmakers to make reduction of single-use plastics a legislative priority. You can also ask them to make repeal of plastic/foam preemptions a priority.

District Office Visits

Call your lawmaker’s district office and ask when they might accommodate a meeting. You can also ask for a Zoom meeting.

If you’re having trouble getting a meeting, send a handwritten letter to your legislators.

Organizing a Legislative Lobby Day at The State Capitol

A lobby day is a powerful tactic that many organizations utilize to influence the state legislative process. For a lobby day, you gather a group of people to take a trip to Tallahassee and hold in-person meetings with legislators and/or their staff. This tactic is powerful because you are showing commitment to your cause and meeting lawmakers in person in their place of work.

Town Halls

Show up at a Town Hall and ask your state representative questions about plastics and preemption in front of an audience and members of the press. Some lawmakers host town halls on Facebook Live.

Local Public Events

Like town halls, these are opportunities to get face time with your legislators and make sure they’re hearing about your concerns. They often take place in district, close to your home. If you’re hosting an event, invite your elected officials to join.

Coordinated Calls

Generating calls to offices doesn’t take as much time as in-person action, but it can have a huge impact at the state level, where staffers are not used to getting a large volume of calls. Organize a large number of volunteers/constituents/friends/classmates to call about plastics on the same day. You can create a Facebook event and invite everyone to call in the same week.

Spread the word on social media!

Sample Facebook Post:

With plastic production growing rapidly and polluting our water, air, and food, local governments shouldn’t be barred from deciding that enough is enough. Join me in calling on our state representatives and senators to repeal the plastic ban preemptions. This will give power back to your local communities. Go to https://plasticfreefl.org/state/ to find out more. #BreakFreeFromPlastic #RiseAbovePlastics #LetLocalsLead 

Polystyrene Rulemaking from the Florida Department of Agriculture

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried announced that the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services had begun rulemaking to phase out the use of polystyrene products in Florida grocery stores, markets, convenience stores, and other regulated businesses. 

“Polystyrene may be convenient, but there is a hidden danger to public health from these disposable consumer products. Chemicals in polystyrene are not only linked to human and animal health concerns, but because these petroleum-based products take at least 500 years to decompose, their negative effects continue long after they’re thrown away,” said Commissioner Fried. “As Florida’s consumer protection and food safety agency, we have an opportunity to help consumers and companies make a positive change. That’s why I’m excited to announce that we have started the rulemaking process to phase out the use of polystyrene food packaging at the 40,000 grocery stores, markets, and convenience stores that we regulate in Florida. By increasing demand for cost-effective alternative products, this is a huge opportunity to create Florida jobs, at Florida businesses, using Florida-grown crops to create next-generation products that are made in Florida. This vision to phase out polystyrene until reaching zero within this decade is a monumental change for consumers, health, and the environment, joining a third of U.S. states in taking action on this issue.” Read more here.

UPDATE: The Florida Legislature failed to ratify this rulemaking.

Read a sign-on letter sent by coalition partners to the Division of Food Safety regarding the polystyrene rulemaking.

About Bottle Deposits

Has Florida considered a bottle deposit bill? Yes, a bottle bill was introduced but did not pass.

Can and bottle deposits were originally introduced in Oregon in 1971 as a way to address the growing litter problem along the state’s beaches and highways. Since then, other states have passed similar laws to clean up the roads and encourage recycling.

Bottle bills require the state to offer a minimum refund on beverage containers as a way to increase bottle recycling efforts by consumers. The process works like this:

• When a retailer buys beverages from a distributor, a deposit is paid to the distributor for each container.
• The consumer then pays the deposit to the retailer when purchasing the beverage but will receive a refund of that deposit when the empty container is returned to a redemption center.
• The distributor reimburses the redemption center the deposit amount for each container, plus a handling fee. (Source: Global Trash Solutions)

Read more about bottle deposit bills here.

VICTORY! Thank you, Senator DiCeglie and Rep Chaney. Rep Chaney and Senator DiCeglie filed a 2024 bill that would prohibit intentional balloon releases (littering balloons) statewide. It was passed by the Florida Legislature in March 2024 and was signed by Governor DeSantis.

Note: Sky lanterns are illegal in the state of Florida.

FFPC 1:10.10.9.3 The use of unmanned, free-floating sky lanterns and similar devices utilizing an open flame shall be prohibited. Read more here.

Florida State Statute 791
791.02 Sale of fireworks regulated; rules and regulations.—
(1) Except as hereinafter provided it is unlawful for any person, firm, co-partnership, or corporation to offer for sale, expose for sale, sell at retail, or use or explode any fireworks;

791.01 Definitions (4)(a) “Fireworks” means and includes any combustible or explosive composition or substance or combination of substances or, except as hereinafter provided, any article prepared for the purpose of producing a visible or audible effect by combustion, explosion, deflagration, or detonation. The term includes blank cartridges and toy cannons in which explosives are used, the type of balloons which require fire underneath to propel them, firecrackers, torpedoes, skyrockets, roman candles, dago bombs, and any fireworks containing any explosives or flammable compound or any tablets or other device containing any explosive substance.

Note: The Florida State Legislature legalized fireworks on 3 days of the year: July 4th, New Years Eve, and New Years Day.

Ask Florida State Parks to reduce single-use plastics

Ask Florida State Parks to require that all food vendors inside the parks not serve food/drinks in any single-use plastic/foam. Share your thoughts here:

https://www.floridastateparks.org/share-your-thoughts

HOME RULE VIDEO (SPANISH)

¿Quieres una forma divertida de comunicar los conceptos básicos del gobierno de la ciudad? ¡Estás de suerte! En preparación para la Semana del Gobierno de la Ciudad de Florida, La Liga ha producido esta caricatura de 13 minutos, perfecta para el público juvenil y más allá. Cubre una variedad de temas que incluyen cartas de la ciudad, formas de gobierno, servicios municipales, impuestos a la propiedad y Autonomía. –_{Florida League of Cities}

Helpful guides: