Announcements
MBAF October 2025 Legislative Update
The Legislature has returned to Tallahassee for interim meetings, and will return at least twice a month until the end of the year. As we mentioned in the September update, there was some anticipation for the Legislative Budget Commission meeting in mid-September where legislators were informed that unless proactive measures (i.e., “budget tightening” or budget cuts) were taken this coming fiscal year (2026-2027), significant deficits are projected for Florida in FY 2027-2028, FY 2028-2029, FY 2029-2030. Medicaid and educational costs are the main budget drivers. Understandably, the incoming leadership in both the House and Senate are very concerned about what the budget could look like when they are in the top spots of their respective chambers. We can expect budget discussions to be one of the two prime legislative issues for the 2026 Session.
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The other prime legislative issue, and what is considered the #1 legislative issue for 2026, is property tax elimination or reduction. The House of Representatives held Select Committee on Property Tax Reform meetings at the end of September to receive testimony from state officials, the Florida League of Cities and the Florida Association of Counties. The House has indicated that they will bring forward a list of recommendations at the November committee meetings. The Governor has also indicated that he will release a list soon of his proposals, which may include raising the homestead exemption to at least $250,000. The Senate has not proposed or publicly discussed any property taxes reductions as of this date. The Governor dialed-up the pressure on the Legislature last week to pass a property tax solution by indicating that he would call them back into Special Session on the matter in July or August if they didn’t get their work done by the end of Regular Session in March. Get ready for lots of drama in Tallahassee on property tax.
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Bills are being filed slowly, with the brief list below that we are monitoring but none of bills filed are lending-specific. We still expect another two thousand bills to be filed, and will provide an update next month.
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MBAF Legislative Tracking List - 2026 Session - October Pre-Session
Ordered by Bill Number
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SB 0030 Rate Filings for Property Insurers by Sharief
Revising the powers of the consumer advocate; specifying that failure to obey certain court orders may
be punished as contempt; authorizing a circuit court to order a person to pay certain expenses;
prohibiting the Office of Insurance Regulation from approving certain rate filings, etc. Effective Date: July 1, 2026
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Actions
09/08/2025 SENATE Filed
10/06/2025 SENATE Referred to Banking and Insurance; Appropriations Committee on Agriculture,
Environment, and General Government; Fiscal Policy
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SB 0048 Housing by Gaetz
Housing; Authorizing a landlord to accept reusable tenant screening reports and require a specified
statement; defining the term “primary dwelling unit”; requiring, rather than authorizing, local
governments to adopt, by a specified date, an ordinance to allow accessory dwelling units in certain
areas; requiring the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to evaluate the
efficacy of using mezzanine finance and the potential of tiny homes for specified purposes, etc.
Effective Date: 7/1/2026
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Actions
09/15/2025 SENATE Filed
10/06/2025 SENATE Referred to Community Affairs; Appropriations Committee on Transportation,
Tourism, and Economic Development; Rules
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SB 0084 Insurance Solutions Advisory Council by Berman
Insurance Solutions Advisory Council; Creating the advisory council within the Office of Insurance
Regulation of the Financial Services Commission for specified purposes; requiring the office to provide
the advisory council with staffing and administrative assistance; providing for expiration of the advisory
council, etc. Effective Date: 7/1/2026
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Actions
09/24/2025 SENATE Filed
10/06/2025 SENATE Referred to Banking and Insurance; Appropriations Committee on Agriculture,
Environment, and General Government; Fiscal Policy
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SB 0108 Resolution of Disputed Property Insurance Claims by Polsky
Resolution of Disputed Property Insurance Claims; Requiring, rather than authorizing, parties in a
property insurance claim dispute to participate in mediation; providing that mediation is a condition
precedent to commencing litigation; requiring all insureds, or their representatives, to attend the
mediation; requiring the policyholder to provide the insurer with any information and certain documents
within a specified time frame after mediation is invoked; revising the definition of the term “claim”, etc.
APPROPRIATION: $1,000,000 Effective Date: Except as otherwise expressly provided in this act and
except for this section, which shall take effect July 1, 2026, this act shall take effect January 1, 2027
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Actions
10/07/2025 SENATE Filed
MBAF September 2025 Legislative Update
Downtown Tallahassee remains quiet as the Legislature is not scheduled to return until the week of October 6th. Little has changed since the August update, with the exception that the Joint Legislative Budget Commission will issue a long-range financial outlook on September 15th, with recommended fiscal strategies for the Legislature to consider. Additionally, state agencies will also submit their Legislative Budget Requests on September 15th. We will be watching closely to see what clues both of those actions may tell us regarding whether the 2026 Legislature will need to be in cost-cutting mode.
Governor DeSantis and Chief Financial Officer Ingoglia continue their frequent press conferences that highlight audits of city and county government spending. DeSantis and Ingoglia are unified in their message that property taxes on homestead properties should be repealed. Both the House and Senate are expected to take up the issue of constitutional amendment property tax reductions in the 2026 Legislative Session.
MBAF August 2025 Legislative Update
With the “never-ending Session” finally over, the Florida Legislature is officially in vacation & conference mode, with a significant number of legislators attending national legislative conferences such as the National Conference of State Legislatures in Boston this week.
The House and Senate will return to Tallahassee for interim committee meetings the week of October 6th. There has been sparse legislative news with the exception that Senator Joe Gruters from Sarasota has been appointed by Senate President Ben Albritton as the Chairman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. This recent appointment was preceded by the appointment by Governor Ron DeSantis of Senator Blaise Ingoglia, the former Chairman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, to become the new Chief Financial Officer of the State of Florida. CFO Ingoglia has hit the ground running with numerous DOGE-style audits of city and county governments, and of course is the newest member of the Financial Services Commission which leads the Office of Financial Regulation.
MBAF July 2025 Legislative Update
It’s over! The 2025 Legislative Session is over and the Governor has signed the budget and all of the bills that we were supporting. As you may recall, our last update was a “to be continued” message that the Legislature still had work to do and had extended the 60-day legislative session. In the end, the 60 days turned into 105 days - one of the longest legislative sessions in Florida history.
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We’ve already reported on the policy bills that passed earlier in Session regarding condominium reform (HB 913), My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program (HB 393), and Affordable Housing (SB 1730) in the information below. However, we were waiting on the tax package (HB 7031) and the General Appropriations Act (the State Budget - SB 2500) that the Legislature finally passed and the Governor has now approved.
In SB 2500 - State Budget, the Legislature FULLY FUNDED the SHIP ($71.2 million) and SAIL ($163.8 million) affordable housing programs. Hometown Heroes was funded at $50 million ($50 million less than last year), and My Safe Home Florida Home Hurricane Mitigation program was funded at $100 million (same as last year, but eligibility was revised to include income caps for all funds).
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In HB 7031- Tax Package, the Legislature created new property tax exemptions for affordable housing developments built on government land, repealed the business rent tax, and mandated that the Office of Economic and Demographic Research conduct a study of the property tax structure of Florida and the expenditure of property tax revenues by local governments. The purpose of the study is to analyze the potential impact of eliminating or significantly reducing ad valorem assessments on homestead property. The study must be completed by November 1, 2025.
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The Legislature will return to Tallahassee in October for interim committee meetings and will keep you up to date on any developments for the 2026 Legislative Session that begins in January.
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