Announcements
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.
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.