Too close for comfort? Not in Florida. As of March 2026, the Florida Senate failed to pass HB 733, Section 13, a provision that would have prohibited a man or woman from marrying someone who is a lineal descendant of their grandparent.
According to The Hill, State Representative Dean Black told Florida News Jax that he believes the issue will come up for another vote in the future. âThere are plenty of people here, and there are plenty of people you can find to be your lifelong partner without looking to your first cousin,â Black said.
For Florida, this means that the legislature is still tiptoeing around questions of kinship and morality. Passing a ban on first-cousin marriage may seem like a no-brainer, but clearly the Florida legislature has been more concerned with bureaucratic knots than untangling the family tree.
With HB 733, Section 13 now rejected, Florida’s legal landscape remains unchanged. First-cousin marriage stays on the books as permissible. While some may view this as a gap in modernizing family law, others might interpret it as the legislature deliberately signaling that there are bigger fish to fry. With the non-passing of this bill, nothing immediately changes: no new restrictions, no challenges in enforcement, and no shift in legal precedent. Politically, this decision speaks volumes. It shows that a legislature willing to confront the issue, debate it, and decide on it wasn’t pressing enough to act on. For now, the bill’s failure doesn’t end the conversation but does put it on pause. This decision may leave Floridians wondering when, or if, the state will revisit where it chooses to draw the line.
If the outcome raises a few eyebrows, it also raises a more important question: what is making it onto Floridaâs legislative agenda? Let’s be real, in a state where policy debates are anything but scarce, priorities tend to reveal themselves not just through action, but through omission. So rather than lingering on what didnât pass, itâs worth turning to what did, taking a closer look at the issues that have actually captured lawmakersâ attention.
WUSF reports that some of the major legislation that did make it across the finish line includes SB 1134, a bill that prohibits Florida cities and counties from funding, implementing, or promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Unsurprisingly, the measure has stirred its fair share of political tension. Supporters, largely Republicans, argue that taxpayer dollars should not be used to fund DEI programs. Meanwhile, Democrats contend that the bill is overly broad and may even venture into unconstitutional territory.
Another notable measure, HB 991, also passed, requiring the state to verify votersâ citizenship through driverâs license records and, in some cases, additional documentation such as birth certificates or passports. The bill goes a step further by tightening identification rules at polling places, eliminating student IDs and retirement home IDs from the list of acceptable forms of voter identification.
Another notable bill that was passed was HB 757, a sweeping school safety measure aimed at strengthening campus security throughout the state. Directly stated in WUSF, “Part of it allows public colleges and universities to appoint trained faculty and employees to carry firearms for protection purposes.”
Floridaâs 2026 legislative session proves that when it comes to priorities, what catches lawmakersâ attention isnât always what catches the publicâs eye. With the legislature, it’s tough to predict what will come next, from rejecting HB 733, Section 13, allowing first-cousin marriage to remain legal, to cracking down on DEI programs, tightening voter ID rules, and increasing efforts for school safety. The legislature may have passed on this issue, but your dating app decisions? Swipe responsibly, Florida.