SB 1172 Florida Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Preferences for Veterans and Military Spouses

Summary

Preferences for Veterans and Military Spouses; Requiring the state and its political subdivisions to give preference in appointment and retention in positions of employment to the spouses of wartime veterans, veterans, members of any reserve component of the United States Armed Forces or the Florida National Guard, and certain active duty servicemembers; defining the term “veteran-owned or military spouse-owned business”; providing for contracting preferences for such businesses; citing this act as the "Florida Veterans and Military Spouse Business Development Act", etc.

Issues: ✓ Veterans

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Mar 4, 2025 Last action Jun 16, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

S 1172 Filed → S 1172 c1 · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended from a version focused solely on business development incentives to include broader employment preferences for veterans and military spouses. The new version adds requirements for state and local governments to give hiring preferences to veterans and their spouses, and allows private employers to adopt similar hiring policies. It also expands the entrepreneurship program requirements to include specific services like mentorship and startup capital assistance.

Scope change

Expanded from business-focused incentives to include employment preferences for veterans and military spouses in both public and private sectors

SCOPE

Added Section 1 requiring state and political subdivisions to give preference in appointment and retention to spouses of wartime veterans, veterans, reservists, National Guard members, and active duty servicemembers

Added Section 3 allowing private employers to adopt hiring preferences for veterans, their spouses, and active duty servicemembers

REQUIREMENT

Expanded Section 4(6) to require the entrepreneurship program to include personalized mentorship, startup capital assistance, and educational resources

Added Section 4(7) requiring expedited processing for veteran and military spouse business certifications

Added Section 4(9) requiring annual reporting of business establishment numbers, economic metrics, and demographic data

Added Section 4(8) requiring interagency cooperation rules among Veterans' Affairs, Revenue, and State departments

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 18, 2025

Upper · Passed

Pending reference review under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)

upper

Mar 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Commerce and Tourism, 03/17/25, 1:30 pm, 110 Senate Building

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Introduced

upper

Mar 3, 2025

Committee

Referred to Commerce and Tourism; Finance and Tax; Appropriations

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors