Chris Dawson, Attorney, GrayRobinson and FRSA Legislative Counsel - June 2026
The 2026 Regular Session of the Florida Legislature ended in March, but it closed without completing the one task the Legislature is constitutionally required to finish each year: passage of a state budget.
With all tallies counted, the Legislature’s official statistics show 1,896 total measures filed in the regular session, including 1,691 general bills, 67 local bills, 30 joint resolutions, 6 concurrent resolutions, 97 one-chamber resolutions and 5 memorials. Of those, 237 measures passed both chambers, including 192 general bills and 44 local bills.
■ Total measures filed: 1,896
■ General bills filed: 1,691
■ Measures passed both chambers: 237
■ General bills passed both chambers: 192 (11.4%)
As of the writing of this report, Governor DeSantis has not vetoed a bill from the 2026 legislative session.
Protect Roofing Licensure and Continuing Education
Successfully defeated HB 607 Industries and Professional Activities by Rep. Taylor Yarkosky (R – Clermont).
The sponsor, who carried the bill on behalf of House leadership, committed to kill his bill for the year after meeting with FRSA. He intends to bring back a pared down version of the bill next year that focuses on streamlining continuing education requirements.
Prevent Insurance-Driven Forced Reroofs; Protect Existing Consumer Protections
Successfully defeated HB 815 by Rep. Michael Gottlieb (D – Davie) and SB 808 by Sen. Corey Simon (R – Tallahassee) Roofing Requirements for Property Insurance.
The bill would have promoted roof coatings as a requirement for property owners to enjoy insurance consumer protections. Sen. Simon has asked FRSA to re-write the bill to expand protections for him to run in 2027.
Prevent Discrimination Among Roof Covering Types in the Florida Statutes
Continued efforts across multiple bills to prevent preferential language in statute for specific roof covering types and instead make sure that all Florida Building Code approved coatings are available for consumers.
Push for Predictability in Workers’ Comp Rates and Curb Bad Actors
Advocated on behalf of HB 1243 by Rep. Bill Conerly (R – Lakewood Ranch) and SB 618 by Sen. Keith Truenow (R – Tavares)
Workers’ compensation insurance to increase flexibility for carriers to better price rates to risk in the market. The legislation moved in both the House and the Senate but did not pass this year. Advocate for Workforce Development Initiatives and Promotion of the Trades to Students Advocated for multiple bills that seek to expand trade programs and promote student involvement in handson learning opportunities. Protect Business Interests of the Florida Roofer Advocated for free market principles that drive competition and fairness in the market while keeping regulatory burdens at a minimum.
Senate Bill 290 – Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Sen. Keith Truenow (R – Tavares) and Rep. Danny Alvarez (R – Riverview) Approved by the Governor on March 23, 2026
Dubbed as the Florida Farm Bill, the bill enacts a wide range of reforms to support Florida’s agricultural community and consumers. Among the broad range of initiatives, the bill 1. protects farmers and agricultural freedom; 2. strengthens Florida agriculture; 3. preserves land and rural communities; 4. enhances environmental and water protections; and 5. protects consumers and ensures public safety.
The Farm Bill also includes a consumer protection and public safety focus to support agriculture. The bill criminalizes cheating on commercial driver license (CDL) exams to improve roadway safety; strengthens enforcement against unwanted commercial solicitation to protect homeowner privacy and bans signal jamming devices that can disrupt law enforcement and emergency communications.
The FDACS bill (or “Farm Bill”) is in this report due to the language relating to prompt pay from GCs to Subs and Suppliers. The language below was negotiated by many in the construction industry including FRSA, ABC and FHBA and with the assistance of Sen. Trumbull.
Section 19. Section 489.1295, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 489.1295 Prohibition against nonpayment. (1) A licensed contractor must compensate a subcontractor or supplier, unless there is a bonafide dispute regarding the amount due, if any, for services, labor, or materials: (a) Within 45 days after receiving payment for the services performed or materials supplied by the subcontractor or supplier; or (b) In accordance with the terms of the contract for such services, labor or materials. (2) A licensed contractor who knowingly or willfully violates this section is subject to disciplinary proceedings as provided in s. 489.129.
House Bill 399 – Land Use and Development Regulations
Sen. McClain (R – Ocala) and Rep. Borrero (R – Doral) Approved by the Governor on March 27, 2026
The bill revises land use and development regulations by limiting development permit fees (establishing a “direct and reasonable indirect costs” standard for how much is appropriate), revising standards for application denials and expanding allowances for certain housing types. The bill requires permit fees to reflect actual
processing costs, restricts denials of certain residential applications based on incompatibility, requires local governments to allow offsite constructed homes where permitted and includes additional provisions related to school agreements, large destination resort approvals (allows large resorts like Miami Beach’s Fontainebleau Hotel to bypass Historic Board and other zoning approvals) and compost facility regulations.
Senate Bill 484 – Data Centers
Sen. Avila (R – Hialeah Gardens) and Rep. Griffitts (R – Panama City)
The bill establishes new regulations for large scale data center developments, with a focus on transparency, infrastructure planning and resource protection. The measure also requires local governments to account for high-energy “large load” users in their comprehensive plans to better plan for longterm impacts.
To address utility concerns, the bill directs the Public Service Commission to develop special electric tariffs so large data centers cover the full cost of their energy use, preventing those costs from being shifted to other ratepayers. The bill also eliminates an extra 12-month confidentiality protection for data centers and introduces stricter water use standards, requiring detailed reporting, conservation plans, public hearings and the use of reclaimed water for large scale data centers seeking permits.
Senate Bill 504 – Code Inspector Body Cameras
Sen. Burgess (R – Zephyrhills) and Rep. Partington (R – Daytona Beach)
The bill requires counties and municipalities in Florida that allow code inspectors to wear body cameras to establish formal policies and oversight governing their use. It defines a “body camera” as a portable electronic recording device worn by a code inspector that captures audio and video during official duties and defines
a “code inspector” as a county or municipal employee responsible for enforcing local codes. Local governments that permit the use of body cameras must create policies addressing proper use, maintenance, storage and data management, including guidelines for when cameras may be used and which inspectors are authorized to wear them. The policies must also ensure that inspectors are allowed to record encounters with members of the public while performing official duties.
The bill also requires local governments to provide training for personnel who use, maintain, store or manage body camera equipment and the data collected from it. Recorded audio and video must be retained in accordance with public records retention requirements and governments must periodically review their body camera programs to ensure compliance with their policies. Additionally, the bill exempts body camera recordings made by code inspectors from the restrictions in Florida’s wiretapping and communications privacy law, allowing inspectors to record encounters without obtaining consent from every individual involved. A related measure, SB 506 (see below), creates a public records exemption for these recordings.
Senate Bill 594 – Local Housing Assistance Plans
Sen. Burton (R – Winter Haven) and Rep. Stark (R – St. Cloud)
The bill proposes new provisions for mobile homeowners in local housing assistance, allowing local governments to, under the State Housing Initiative Partnership Program, provide six months of rent subsidies for lot rentals for mobile homeowners and requires local governments to include such funding in their local housing assistance plans. The bill also includes mobile homeowners in housing funding criteria and removes limits on funding for manufactured housing.
Senate Bill 800 – Engineering
Sen. Mayfield (R – Melbourne) and Rep. Melo (R – Naples)
The bill amends s. 471.033, F.S., to provide an escalating fine schedule for second or subsequent violations of engaging in the unlicensed practice of engineering, up to $25,000.
House Bill 803 – Building Permits and Inspections
Sen. Nick DiCeglie (R – St. Petersburg) and Reps. Trabulsy (R – Fort Pierce) and Overdorf (R – Stuart)
The bill creates a uniform application system, streamlines permit procedures and exempts certain minor projects from permit requirements. The bill directs the Florida Building Commission to adopt (by July 1, 2027) uniform commercial and residential building permit applications for statewide use. Among other administrative changes, the bill requires electronic delivery of permits, reduces restrictions on private providers and limits local governments from requiring additional documentation. The bill exempts certain projects valued at less than $7,500 on single-family residential properties, including the installation of temporary residential hurricane and flood protection systems. More specifically, it:
■ Extends the expiration of single-family dwelling building permits to one year or until the next Florida Building Code edition, whichever is later, and allows local governments to grant further extensions.
■ Requires the Department of Management Services to maintain state term contracts for building code inspection services.
■ Authorizes individuals holding valid out-of-state licenses to serve in certain inspecting or plans review roles during declared emergencies under specified conditions.
■ Provides an exemption to permit requirements for work on single-family homes with a construction cost of $7,500 or less. The bill clarifies that any electrical, plumbing, structural (roofing included), mechanical or gas work performed on property containing a single-family dwelling requires a permit regardless of the cost.
■ Prohibits local governments from denying permits for certified residential manufactured buildings and clarifies that such units must be taxed as mobile homes if placed on mobile home lots.
■ Creates new guidelines ensuring that offsiteconstructed residential dwellings are permitted in single-family zoning districts and are not treated more restrictively than site-built homes.
■ Directs the Florida Building Commission to adopt uniform commercial and residential building permit applications statewide by July 1, 2027.
■ Prohibits charging fees for inspections in excess of actual costs, requires permit fee reductions for those using private inspectors and exempts certain low value or temporary projects from permit requirements.
■ Revises private provider procedures to streamline plan reviews and inspections, limit local governments’ ability to add requirements and mandate reduced or zero permit fees where private providers handle inspections.
■ Prohibits homeowners’ associations from requiring proof of a government building permit before conducting their own review of a proposed residential improvement.
House Bill 883 – Protected Cell Captive Insurance Markets
Sen. Leek (R – St. Augustine) and Rep. Fabricio (R – Miami Lakes)
Expand and clarify requirements for protected cell captive insurance companies by updating definitions, adjusting capital thresholds and establishing detailed procedures for their formation and operation.
■ Adds “protected cell captive insurance company” to the definition of captive insurance company and clarifies that a special purpose captive insurance company is one that does not meet any other captive definition.
■ Specifies that protected cell captive insurers may only insure the risks of their protected cell participants.
■ Revises minimum capital, net asset and surplus requirements to include specified dollar thresholds for protected cell captive insurance companies.
■ Adds comprehensive rules for establishing, managing and merging protected cells, including maintaining separate accounting of assets and liabilities, requiring office approval for participant contracts and limiting cross-liability between cells.
■ Details procedures for converting, disaffiliating and merging individual protected cells, with assets and liabilities appropriately transferred, along with preserving the cell formation date.
House Bill 927 – Local Land Planning and Development
Sen. Massullo (R – Inverness) and Rep. Sapp (R – Palatka)
The bill requires counties and cities of a certain size to create and implement a program by January 1, 2027 for the use of qualified, pre-approved private professionals from a local government-maintained registry to perform a pre-application review of permit applications, plan reviews and plat approvals before submission to the local government for final approval. The mechanics of this review as supplementing the local government’s staff resources are to be determined by the governing body.
If an applicant chooses to use this process, the county must, within five days of a pre-application certification, confirm receipt, verify completeness and notify the applicant of completion or deficiencies. The county must then process the complete or deemed-complete application for final action and approve, approve with conditions or deny the application within 45 days. Failure to take final action within 10 days following notice by the applicant results in the application’s automatic approval. Approvals are made through administrative review, without a public hearing or other review.
Each local government must establish and maintain a registry of at least four qualified contractors or two qualified contractor firms free of conflict of interest with the local government, either individually or through agreement with another local government.
House Bill 1134 – Official Actions of Local Government
Sen. Yarborough (R – Jacksonville) and Rep. Black (R – Jacksonville)
This bill prohibits counties and municipalities in Florida from funding, promoting or taking official actions related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs or policies. In effect, it eliminates DEI initiatives at the local government level and prevents local governments from creating or supporting such programs in the future. Under the bill, counties and cities may not create, enforce, fund or promote ordinances, policies, programs or regulations related to DEI and any existing local DEI programs or policies would become void.
The bill also restricts how public funds may be used in connection with DEI. Local governments would be prohibited from using public funds to establish or maintain DEI offices, employ DEI officers or contract with individuals or organizations to administer DEI initiatives. In addition, public funds could not be used by employees, contractors, vendors, volunteers or agents of a local government to promote DEI activities. Beginning January 1, 2027, individuals or entities seeking a county or municipal contract or grant must certify that they do not require employees to participate in DEI training or materials funded with public money.
House Bill 1175 – Safety Design Standards for Office Surgery Suites
Sen. Rodriguez (R – Doral) and Rep. Redondo (R – Miami)
The bill directs the Florida Building Commission to amend the Florida Building Code and the State Fire Marshal to amend the Florida Fire Prevention Code to, by January 1, 2027, include safety design standards for office surgery suites that must be alternative standards to ambulatory health care occupancies and must allow physicians to provide specified services or treatment for up to six patients simultaneously on an outpatient basis.
House Bill 1329 – Local Government Finances
Sen. DiCeglie (R – St. Petersburg) and Rep. Benarroch (R – Naples)
■ Enhances transparency and accountability in local government finances through expanded budget posting requirements, mandatory reduction exercises and stricter impact fee regulations.
■ Requires counties and municipalities to post tentative budgets online at least five days before public hearings and final budgets must remain posted for at least five years (increased from two).
■ Mandates a budget workshop for both county and municipal governments to explore a 10 percent reduction exercise, with documentation posted online.
■ Obliges counties and municipalities to publish quarterly compensation summaries for all funded employees and to publish annual budget development calendars, detailing key budget deadlines.
■ Updates procedures for county budget amendments, including a five-day notice on proposed changes and extending the required online posting of adopted amendments to five years.
■ Creates new definitions of impact fee and planbased methodology for concurrency and outlines allowable alternative transportation planning options, including explicit use of impact fees.
■ Implements stricter rules on adopting or increasing impact fees, including using a plan-based methodology, limiting the use of data older than four years and capping fee increases beyond certain levels without demonstrating extraordinary circumstances.
■ Establishes refunds or credits for impact fee overpayments, with specific timelines for local governments, school districts and special districts to respond.
Senate Bill 1434 – Infill Redevelopment
Sen. Calatayud (R – Miami) and Rep. Borrero (R – Miami Lakes)
Facilitate the redevelopment of environmentally impacted parcels in large counties by requiring local governments to permit certain residential uses and streamline development approvals. Specifically, the bill:
■ Names the new section the Infill Redevelopment Act and provides legislative findings about housing shortages and the need to remediate urban parcels.
■ Defines key terms such as environmentally impacted land, designated agricultural land, qualifying parcel and recreational facilities.
■ Requires local governments to allow residential development on qualifying parcels, subject to density limits not exceeding the average of adjacent residential districts or 25 units per acre, whichever is lower.
■ Mandates administrative approval of subdivision applications for qualifying parcels and restricts local governments from using subdivision processes to reduce allowable density or intensity.
■ Requires a 20-foot buffer between new development and existing single-family homes or townhouses on all sides, preserving the buffer area as open space or passive recreation.
■ Establishes requirements for qualifying parcels containing former recreational facilities, including demonstrating the facilities were not in operation for at least 12 months, paying double certain impact fees and offering adjacent owners the option to purchase the parcel or a portion of it for recreational use.
■ Mandates administrative approval for development applications meeting these criteria, while still allowing local governments to impose generally applicable architectural design regulations that do not lower authorized density or intensity.
■ Preempts local governments from adopting or enforcing new restrictions on development of qualifying parcels and calls for a liberal interpretation to fulfill the act’s objectives.
Senate Bill 1614 – Enforcement of the Florida Building Code
Sen. Leek (R – St. Augustine) and Rep. Tramont (R – Port Orange)
■ Revise the manner in which local governments must spend excess building permit fee revenues under the Florida Building Code.
■ Removes the option for using surplus funds to construct or house a building code enforcement agency.
■ Maintains allowable uses of surplus funds for fee rebates, technology upgrades or training programs.
■ Authorizes owners, builders or associations with valid building permits to bring a civil action against a local government that is not complying with the revised requirements.
The Legislature still has much work to do in 2026 prior to election season. In particular, it is expected that the House and Senate will convene in multiple special sessions this year. Topics on the agenda may include:
■ Congressional Redistricting
■ FY 2026-2027 State Budget
■ Property Tax Reform: the Legislature must act to place a constitutional amendment on the 2026 November ballot
■ Revisit Executive Priorities? (Regulation of artificial intelligence, vaccine mandates, etc.)
Candidate qualifying for local, state and federal offices is just around the corner. Florida is poised to have a very substantial election with Congressional midterms in the news and a variety of statewide offices on the ballot, including the office of Governor. Critical election dates are:
■ June 8-12, 2026 – Qualifying for statewide candidates (Governor, Attorney General, Commissioner of Agriculture and Chief Financial Officer) and for legislative seats (half of the Florida Senate and all seats in the Florida House of Representatives).
■ August 18, 2026 – Primary Election
■ November 3, 2026 – General Election
Chris Dawson is an Attorney and professional Lobbyist for GrayRobinson’s Orlando office and is licensed to practice law in both Florida and Alabama. He primarily focuses on lobbying and government relations for public and private sector clients at the executive and legislative levels of state government. He is credentialed
as a Designated Professional Lobbyist by the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists. Chris also holds two degrees in Civil Engineering and has experience in construction litigation and design professional malpractice defense.