House Speaker Daniel Perez struck a blow to two of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ top priorities at the opening of Florida’s special legislative session by holding back measures meant to safeguard artificial intelligence use and increase vaccine exemptions in public schools.
Within a few minutes of gaveling in, the Miami Republican put a roadblock on the future of AI regulations and vaccine exemptions in Florida — issues that have been championed by the governor in recent months.
Perez said the House would instead only move forward on redrawing congressional boundaries, following other states’ efforts to increase U.S. House seats for the GOP. The Florida House now has 34 Democrats, 85 Republicans and one vacancy.
“There were no bills filed on these policies prior to the start of this special session,” Perez told House members. “Consequently, we will not taking up those issues.”
The AI bill has been more pressing for conservative activists, especially while legislatures across the country debate and implement laws addressing growing concerns for how minors interact with AI. Florida’s rulebook is particularly rooted in tragedy, after a 14-year-old died by suicide in 2024 from extended conversations with an AI chatbot.
More recently, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier compared ChatGPT to a murderer, saying the AI chatbot offered “significant advice” to a gunman who killed two and injured others in a mass shooting last year at Florida State University.
He also announced that he’d investigate the platform after prosecutors alleged that another murder suspect asked the AI chatbot about disposing a body, after two University of South Florida students went missing, one of whose remains were found on the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa.
Bill would have barred minors from chatbot use without parental OK
The Florida legislation would have prohibited minors from creating AI companion chatbot accounts without parental permission, along with mandating technology companies to input disclosures that the user is interacting with AI and reminders to take a break.
The state’s vaccine exemptions proposal stems from a national anti-vaccination push from the MAHA movement, also known as the Make America Healthy Again movement by the Trump administration. It would have allowed parents to exempt their child from school-mandated immunizations based on their conscience — an expansion from the traditional religious exemptions in public schools.
The Republican-led House’s defiance against DeSantis stands in line with the position of the White House on AI regulations, where the president has sought for the federal government to be AI’s only governing body.
It also stifles the term-limited governor from carrying out his agenda to pass one of the most stringent AI regulation laws in the country, while DeSantis has been positioning himself as a chief AI skeptic. On X, he responded to this House action by calling it “political shenanigans.”
“Voters elected Republicans to protect freedom against both the Big Tech cartel and the medical industrial complex,” DeSantis said. “Yet, when given the chance to deliver for their constituents, not a single Republican House member could even be bothered to file a bill.”
This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Stephany Matat is based in Tallahassee, Fla. She can be reached at SMatat@usatodayco.com. On X: @stephanymatat.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida House blocks DeSantis AI and vaccine push
Reporting by Stephany Matat, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
