Announcements
MBAF April 2026 Legislative Update
It has been two weeks since the 2026 Regular Legislative Session ended without a State Budget. House and Senate leaders are meeting this week to see if they can arrive at a mutually-agreed upon date for a Special Session on the budget later this month. In addition, the Governor has already called a Special Session on congressional redistricting for the end the April, and a Special Session on property tax reductions is expected as well.
As we mentioned last month, although a handful of bills did pass during the Regular Session that were important to MBAF, such as HB 1389 - Affordable Housing, and SB 1452 - Department of Financial Services, all of the budget issues remain to be resolved during the budget Special Session. For example, the House and Senate are in agreement on the funding for the SAIL/SHIP Affordable Housing Programs at $236,440,000, but they maintain different positions on Hometown Heroes funding (House: $50MM/Senate: $75MM), and on Live Local/Rural Housing Preservation (House: $0/Senate: $180MM). The differences between the House and Senate will be “ironed-out” during the budget conference process once it begins in the yet-to-be-announced budget Special Session.
The other unfinished business is the Legislature’s work product to develop a proposed constitutional amendment for the November general election ballot that would reduce property taxes. It has been over a year since the Governor first announced his interest in reducing property taxes. The House of Representatives convened a Select Committee on Property Taxes in 2025 that developed eight different proposals. The House passed one proposal in the 2026 Regular Session, HJR 203, that eliminates almost all homestead property taxes but does not eliminate that portion attributable to school taxes, and prohibits local government from reducing the funding for fire, police, and EMS, below current funding. The Florida Senate opposed the proposal based upon the devastating impact on local government and recommended considering the issue during a Special Session, perhaps in May or June. We will keep you posted on the timing of Special Session announcements.
MBAF February 2026 Legislative Update
We are currently in Week 6 of the 9-week Session. The House and Senate are in the process of passing their respective budgets so that they can begin the budget conference process the first week of March. There is good news that the funding allocations for the affordable housing programs and Hometown Heroes is looking favorable. As shown by the chart below, the House and Senate match for their funding of the SHIP & SAIL programs and take different positions on Hometown Heroes & Live Local. The differences will be negotiated during conference to arrive at an agreed-upon number.
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Appropriations Priorities:
Project
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SAIL/SHIP Affordable Housing Programs
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Hometown Heroes Housing Program
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Live Local/Rural Housing Preservation
House
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​$236,440,000
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​
​$50,000,000
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​​
​$0
Senate
​
$236,440,000
​
​
$75,000,000
​
​
​$180,000,000
As we indicated before, there are a record number of bills that we have been working with, and a full listing of all of those bills follows. However, there are a handful of bills that we have been actively engaged with:
Priority Legislation:
SB540: Office of Financial Regulation (Martin)/ HB381 (Barnaby)
Expands the authority and responsibilities of the Office of Financial Regulation, including requiring loan originators, mortgage brokers, lenders, money services businesses, and financial institutions to implement comprehensive information security programs and incident response plans to protect customer financial data and respond to cybersecurity events. Licensees that are in compliance with the FTC’s Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information, 16 C.F.R. Part 314, are deemed in compliance with proposed regulation. In addition, the regulation does not apply to a licensee that has fewer than 20 individuals on its workforce, including employees and independent contractors; or fewer than 500 customers during a calendar year.
SB1548: Affordable Housing (Calatayud)/ HB1389 (Redondo)
Requires counties and municipalities to allow certain affordable multifamily and mixed-use residential developments in areas zoned for commercial, industrial, or mixed use, including certain publicly owned lands, and limits local restrictions on height, density, and certain approval requirements for qualifying projects. This legislation is Live Local 3.0, the third iteration of affordable housing legislation originally crafted by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo.
HB203: Phased Out Elimination of Non-school Property for Homesteads (Miller)
Proposes a constitutional amendment to gradually increase the homestead property tax exemption on non-school taxes by $100,000 each year for ten years starting in 2027, eventually eliminating those taxes on homesteads while preventing local governments from reducing funding for law enforcement and other first responders below current levels. This bill has become the “chosen one” of all of the House’s property tax proposals and eliminates over $18 billion in property taxes. The Senate has indicated that they are not interested in hearing the bill as cuts local services too deeply. The Senate may release a property tax proposals soon, or they may wait until a special session is called on property tax reductions.
SB1706: My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program (Pizzo)/ HB1497 (Hunschofsky)
Updates eligibility and participation rules for the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program, including clearer income verification requirements, expanded eligibility for certain mixed-income condominiums, and conditions for receiving grants to complete hurricane-resistance improvements.
MBAF January 2026 Legislative Update
Happy Friday! It’s the last weekend before a legislative session that looks like it may last until July.
Governor DeSantis will present his long-anticipated State of the State address on Tuesday which will be his last presentation before a Joint Session of the Legislature. It is expected that the Governor will use the opportunity to make announce bold legislative initiatives, including details on what he expects from property tax reform. Earlier this week the Governor announced a special session for congressional redistricting in April, and we expect separate special sessions on property tax and the budget in May or June.
The Legislature has been busy filing bills and we probably have one of the longest bill tracking lists that we’ve seen in years based upon the anticipation of property tax reform and affordable housing issues.
Property tax reform still is the #1 legislative issue, followed closely by State budget issues may result in significant cuts to some state-funded programs. As you will see from the list of bills below, there are a few property insurance bills filed as well but we do not anticipate the Legislature to make any major reforms based upon the most recent market data that indicates rates are holding or dropping in some parts of the State.
Of particular note is a pair of bills, House Bill 381 by Barnaby, and Senate Bill 540 by Martin. These identical bills establish comprehensive regulatory requirements from the Florida Office of Financial Regulation that strengthens data security requirements and updates regulatory standards for mortgage lenders, money services businesses, investment advisers, and financial institutions to:
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Require loan originators, mortgage brokers, and lenders to maintain written information security programs, investigate cybersecurity events, and notify the Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) of breaches affecting 500 or more individuals.
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Add failure to comply with security-breach notification requirements as a ground for disciplinary action for both mortgage and money services licensees.
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Expand the obligation for money services businesses and financial institutions to secure nonpublic personal information and report major security breaches to the OFR, Department of Legal Affairs, affected individuals, and certain credit bureaus.
We will be updating you on developments as legislation begins to move forward, and will be asking our members to engage with their legislators on critical issues. Buckle-up for the legislative ride!
MBAF November 2025 Legislative Update
November interim legislative committee meetings are being held this week in Tallahassee. Interim committee meetings began in October and will continue until the end of the year. The 2026 Legislative Session will begin January 13th and hopefully will end on March 13th (although few legislators believe it will not end on time based upon the 2025 Session experience).
As we have mentioned in previous updates, the two central issues the Legislature will consider are: 1) Florida’s budget, and 2) Property tax reform. The closer we get to Session, Legislative leadership is talking more about not just budget “tightening” but “significant cuts” to the budget to avoid the impact of projected deficits in the next two to three years. The House has released an initial group of proposed constitutional amendments related to property tax reform:
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HJR 201 by Rep. Steele eliminates non-school homestead property taxes.
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HJR 203 by Rep. Miller phases out non-school homestead property taxes over a ten-year period. Each year homeowners would receive an additional $100,000 exemption. After ten years, all non-school homestead property taxes would be eliminated.
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HJR 205 by Rep. Porras exempts Florida residents over the age of 65 from paying non-school homestead property taxes.
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HJR 207 by Rep. Abbott creates a new homestead exemption for non-school property taxes equal to 25% of the assessed value of the house. In addition to providing relief to current homeowners, it would also benefit first-time homebuyers.
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HJR 209 by Rep. Busatta creates a new property insurance relief homestead tax exemption. Homestead property owners who have property insurance will be entitled to an additional $100,000 exemption on non-school property taxes.
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HJR 211 by Rep. Overdorf eliminates the cap on portability, allowing a homeowner to transfer their entire accumulated Save Our Homes benefit to their new home, even if that home has a lesser value.
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HJR 213 by Rep. Griffitts limits the growth in assessed value of non-school homestead property taxes to 3% over three years for homestead property (currently it is 3% per year) and 15% over three years for non-homestead property (currently it is 10% per year).
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HB 215 by Rep. Albert makes various statutory changes including requiring a 2/3 vote for any increase in the millage rate and allowing newly married couples to combine their accumulated Save Our Homes benefits.
The House Select Committee on Property Tax Reform is expected to take up the proposed amendments for discussion on November 20th and it is anticipated that the House will continue to move the proposals through committee in December in preparation for passage by the House the first week or so of Session. Neither the Governor’s Office nor the Senate have released their own respective proposals. The Governor has “doubled down” on his exhortation to the Legislature to completely repeal property taxes, at least for homestead properties.
Apart from the constitutional amendment proposals from the Select Committee and similar proposals from Senator Mack Bernard (D - Palm Beach), very few bills of interest have been filed. However, today Rep. Webster Barnaby filed HB 381 - Office of Financial Regulation - that proposes to strengthen data security requirements and update regulatory standards for mortgage lenders, money services businesses, investment advisers, and financial institutions. The bill:
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Requires loan originators, mortgage brokers, and lenders to maintain written information security programs, investigate cybersecurity events, and notify the Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) of breaches affecting 500 or more individuals.
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Adds failure to comply with security-breach notification requirements as a ground for disciplinary action for both mortgage and money services licensees.
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Removes the definition of “innovative” from the Financial Technology Sandbox, broadens eligibility, and allow more flexibility on the maximum number of consumers served during sandbox testing.
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Expands the obligation for money services businesses and financial institutions to secure nonpublic personal information and report major security breaches to the OFR, Department of Legal Affairs, affected individuals, and certain credit bureaus.
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Permits credit unions to hold virtual meetings without a quorum requirement and removes certain constraints on real estate investments.
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Lengthens the window from 30 to 45 days for issuing payment of examination costs for state financial institutions and trust companies and extend the experience look-back from 5 to 10 years for prospective directors or officers of certain banks and trust companies.
The pace of bills being filed will pick up over the next 60 days before Session, and we’ll be sure to have a long list of legislative items that we will be working on during Session.