After SB 1632 and HB 1471 cleared their final committees, the ACLU of Florida warned the bills would let the government brand its critics as terrorists. Meanwhile, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops confirmed that amendments had addressed their concerns about Canon Law — a carve-out that revealed exactly who the bill’s religious law provisions were designed to target, and who they were designed to protect.

Florida’s domestic terrorist designation bill barely survived its second Senate committee hearing on February 25 — a grueling three-hour session in which approximately 95% of public testimony opposed the bill, the committee chair voted yes but couldn’t guarantee future support, and the bill’s sponsor struggled to explain how it wouldn’t be weaponized. Senate leadership’s response: pull the bill from its third and final committee and send it straight to the floor, bypassing one more opportunity for scrutiny.

Florida’s bill to let state officials brand organizations as domestic terrorists advanced in both chambers in a single week. The House Education & Employment Committee approved HB 1471 on a 16-4 vote — with two Democrats crossing over — while the Senate Judiciary Committee passed its companion, SB 1632, 8-3. The bills are now moving faster than the opposition can organize against them.