Announcements
MBAF June 2026 Legislative Update
We are almost there! The Legislature passed the budget this past Friday evening after working straight through the previous week’s Memorial Day weekend. The good news is that the Final Budget on housing issues remains nearly identical to last year’s funding - which is significant considering the significant budget cuts that the Legislature had to make this year in anticipation of future-year deficits. The next-to-last column in the chart below shows the funding this year for each of the programs and the last column shows last year’s funding for comparison. SAIL and SHIP are fully funded. Hometown Heroes is funded again at $50 million. My Safe Florida Home Hurricane Mitigation does not show any new funds because there still is a significant balance left over from last year’s funding. All-in-all, another good year for housing funding.
And, on Monday, June 1st, the Legislature gavels in another Special Session - hopefully the last one - for property tax reform to produce an amendment to the Florida Constitution that will appear on the ballot in November. The Governor quickly called the Special Session late last week and released his property tax proposal last Friday.
The Governor has forwarded his Save Our Homes constitutional amendment proposal to the Legislature that contains five major components to provide immediate and permanent relief:
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Exempt Homestead Properties from Taxation - exempts the first $250,000 of a homestead’s value from taxation and requiring, through law, a schedule for full elimination.
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Ensure Funding For Core Services - requires local governments to use remaining property taxes solely for core public needs including safety, education and schools, infrastructure, and natural resources.
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Protect Small Businesses - limits future property tax assessments on businesses and creates a more stable tax environment for local businesses.
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Ensure Fairness for Florida Residents - requires any person who establishes residency after January 1, 2027, to maintain Florida residency for five years prior to receiving increased homestead exemption.
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Create a State Trust Fund to Assist with Core Local Services - establishes a trust fund to provide local governments to assist with the continuation of core local services.
In addition, the Governor has created a website where homesteaded homeowners can check to see the difference in taxes they will pay under the constitutional amendment, if approved, based upon their 2025 taxes: https://www.saveourhomesfl.com/
The first House and Senate Committee meetings on the proposal will begin on Monday, June 1st, and the Legislature is scheduled to conclude the Special Session on Wednesday, June 3rd. We will provide an update as soon as the Special Session concludes.
MBAF May 2026 Legislative Update
Last month we reported that the Legislature had unfinished business in three areas:
(1) Redistricting - Gov. DeSantis asked for mid-cycle congressional redistricting.
(2) Budget - they failed to pass a budget in the Regular Session.
(3) Property Tax Reform Constitutional Amendment for the November ballot.
Redistricting - As promised, the Legislature returned in late April to pass a new congressional map that created four new Republican-leaning districts from four Democratic-leaning districts. The Governor signed the legislation and it is currently in litigation.
Budget - The Legislature convened a Budget Special Session on May 5th, that is called through May 29th. We are currently in the midst of the negotiations that are expected to continue through the weekend. The Legislature is having to make significant cuts to various programs due to the loss of federal funds. The good news is that SHIP & SAIL Housing funds will remain fully-funded at $235 million, Hometown Heroes should receive at least $50 million, and the My Safe Home program should be able to carry-forward an unexpended balance of $342 million.
We still have a few more days of negotiation but housing-related line items are looking positive!
Property Tax Reform Constitutional Amendment - We are still waiting on the Special Session to be called on property tax and now expecting a June timeframe. No official word yet on what an amendment might look like, although there is discussion that it may be an additional $100,000 homestead-property tax exemption.
Once the property tax special session is concluded, expect to see your local legislators campaigning for the primary elections in August and the general election in November. The Organizational Session will take place in late mid-November, with House and Senate Committees meeting in December.
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
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$236,440,000
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​
$75,000,000
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​
​$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.