A bill is back in Florida to protect farmworker housing after it was vetoed by DeSantis

migrant farmworkers picking tomatoes in Florida Farmworkers by Kevin McKenna via iStock for WMNF News. — Migrant farmworkers picking tomatoes in Florida Farmworkers by Kevin McKenna via iStock for WMNF News.

After Gov. Ron DeSantis in June vetoed a proposal aimed at providing housing for migrant farmworkers, a Republican senator has reintroduced the issue for the 2025 legislative session.

Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, this week filed a bill (SB 84) that would prevent local governments from inhibiting the construction of farmworker housing on agricultural land if the housing meets criteria set by the state.

The bill is nearly identical to a measure Collins sponsored in the 2024 session that drew unanimous support in the House and Senate.

But DeSantis vetoed the measure, saying it lacked enforcement related to illegal workers.

“The bill’s terms apply to legal migrant farm workers, but the bill does not include the means to enforce this limitation and could pave the way for housing of illegal alien workers,” DeSantis wrote in a veto letter.

Members of the agriculture industry backed the proposal in the 2024 session to try to bolster efforts to bring in more non-immigrant foreign workers.

They said some farmers had cut back on planting because of labor shortages related to a state crackdown on undocumented immigrants.