(02/10/2026) The bill that would let a handful of Florida officials brand any organization a “domestic terrorist” group cleared its second House committee on Tuesday — and the Senate version passed its first committee the same week. Both votes followed the same pattern: heavy criticism from the public, pointed questions from Democrats, and comfortable Republican majorities pushing the legislation forward regardless.

The House Education & Employment Committee approved HB 1471 on a 16-4 vote, with two Democrats — Rep. Jervontae Edmonds and Rep. Kim Daniels — joining the Republican majority. It was the bill’s second committee stop after the Civil Justice and Claims Subcommittee approved it 14-3 on January 29.

Edmonds, who represents the largest concentration of Jewish residents in Palm Beach County, said he supported the bill’s elimination of Shari’a law provisions. But he also questioned its broader necessity. “The more legislation I see this session, I’m wondering, what are we afraid of?” he asked.

It was a telling moment: even the Democrats who voted yes couldn’t explain what real-world problem the bill solves. No Shari’a law has ever been applied in a Florida court. No domestic terrorist organization list exists at the federal level. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Hillary Cassel, R-Dania Beach — who switched from Democrat to Republican in December 2024 over Israel — told the committee the bill “targets conduct, not belief, and protects free speech, religious liberty, and due process.”

Public speakers at the hearing were less convinced. Amanda Langworthy of Voices of Florida called it “an attack on our First Amendment rights,” warning that students’ futures would be at risk. The bill’s provision allowing immediate expulsion of college students who “promote” a designated organization drew the sharpest criticism. Sarah Parker, Voices of Florida’s executive director, said the bill would “disproportionally silence BIPOC people.”

Rep. Susan Valdés, R-Tampa, offered the bill’s most revealing defense. She praised Cassel’s legislation for shifting the designation power from the governor alone to a majority vote of the state Cabinet — a tacit admission that Governor DeSantis’s December executive order designating CAIR as a terrorist organization had overreached. “This ensures that no sitting individual can unilaterally label a group of terrorists without the concurrence of other independently elected statewide officials,” Valdés said. The argument amounted to: the governor already did this by himself, so let us formalize it with a slightly larger group of officials.

Meanwhile, on the Senate side, SB 1632 — the companion bill sponsored by Sen. Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce — cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 3 on an 8-3 vote. All three no votes came from Democrats: Senators Berman, Osgood, and Polsky.

Mohamed Ahmed, the principal of Hifz Academy in Tampa, testified before the Senate committee that the decision to designate organizations as terrorists should not rest with a small group of officials, some of whom have publicly attacked Islamic education. “I’m telling you, we do not practice Shari’a law,” Ahmed told senators. “Please visit us to understand what is going on.”

His plea underscored what has been clear since Cassel filed her original anti-Shari’a bill on the anniversary of October 7: the people who will be most harmed by this legislation are not terrorists. They are families sending their children to Islamic schools, students organizing on college campuses, and community organizations that have served Florida’s Muslim residents for decades.

HB 1471 now moves to the House Judiciary Committee — its final stop before the full House floor. SB 1632 heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice. Both bills, if passed, would take effect July 1, 2026.

The legislative session is scheduled to end March 13. The machine is accelerating.