Sen. Stan McClain (R-Ocala) has been named the '2025 Legislator of the Year' by the Florida Coalition for Children (FCC).
"It was an honor to receive the 2025 Legislator of the Year award from the @FLchildren1," McClain said. "Their mission is to advocate on behalf of Florida’s abused, abandoned, neglected, & at-risk children, & to support the agencies who work on their behalf."
"Thankful for what they are doing," McClain added.
The FCC oversees care for over 50,000 children and families in crisis each year while providing critical services and programs to them throughout Florida. Their services include residential and group home care, emergency shelters, residential treatment centers, counseling, foster family services, adoption services, early intervention and prevention programs, and various in-home support services.
"The vision of the Coalition is to see a system of child welfare in Florida that is fully resourced, well managed, and fulfills the needs of Florida’s vulnerable children and families," the FCC said.
Sen. McClain filed 34 bills during this past legislative session. He also co-sponsored another five bills.
They included SB 1690, a bill that authorizes hospitals, emergency medical service stations, and fire stations to use infant safety devices for the surrender of newborns, and establishes criteria for their use. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April.
In addition, McClain pushed legislation aimed at protecting public employees from being required to use pronouns that do not align with an individual’s biological sex. The bill, however, died in the Judiciary Committee. Another bill, aimed at cracking down on explicit books in public schools, also failed to proceed in the Education Pre-K-12 Committee.
McClain represents Senate District 9, which covers Levy and Marion counties and part of Alachua County in north-central Florida. First elected in 2024, McClain defeated Democrat Sylvain Dore by a margin of nearly 27 points in the SD 9 general election.
He also served in the Florida House of Representatives for the 23rd District from 2016 to 2022, and for the 27th District from 2022 to 2024.
