Feb. 28, 2025 | Legislative Reporter
The 2025 Legislative Session convenes next Tuesday, March 4 and is scheduled to end on May 2.
Note that today, Feb. 28, is the bill draft filing deadline for both the House and Senate. As a result, over 640 bills were filed over the past seven days. The Bill Tracking Report, as of Feb. 28, can be viewed here. Since the Feb. 21 Reporter, over 60 bills have been added to the Bill Tracking Report, including 12 that amend the homestead exemption or tax assessment process alone.
Please review the Bill Tracking Report to see the filed bills that APA Florida is tracking and their status. Note that if you click on the bill number, you will be linked to more information about the bill. If you would like any bills added to this report or would like more information about a specific bill, please contact Stefanie Svisco at ssvisco@floridaplanning.org.
Since the last Legislative Reporter, below are some of the bills of interest filed:
HB 923 (Rep. V. Lopez) reforms affordable housing tax exemptions and eligibility while introducing administrative and tax credit provisions targeted at housing development and rehabilitation.
HB 943 (Rep. V. Lopez) is a 67-page bill which makes many changes related to land use and development, some of which do the following:
• amend s.125.0155 and s.166.04151 related to affordable housing, some of which would;
• require local government to approve the development of affordable housing by a religious institution if certain criteria are met;
• provide that, notwithstanding any other law, local ordinance, or regulation to the contrary, including any local moratorium established after March 29, 2023, a county or municipality must authorize multifamily and mixeduse residential as allowable uses on any site owned by the county, a district school board, a religious institution as defined in s.170.201(2), and in any area zoned for commercial, industrial, or mixed use, any planned unit development permitted for commercial, industrial, or mixed use, or any zoning district not zoned solely for use as a single-family home or duplex, if at least 40 percent of the residential units in a proposed multifamily or
mixed-use residential development are rental units that, for a period of at least 30 years, are affordable as defined in s.420.0004(3);
• provide that a county or municipality may not require a proposed multifamily or mixed-use residential development to obtain an amendment to a development of regional impact, amendment to a development agreement, or amendment to a restrictive covenant or a zoning or land use change, special exception, conditional use approval, variance, or comprehensive plan amendment for the building height, zoning, and densities authorized;
• require counties and municipalities, respectively, to include adjacent land as part of multifamily development, regardless of land use designation, if certain conditions are met;
• prohibit counties and municipalities from requiring more than 10 percent of total square footage to be used for nonresidential purposes;
• prohibit counties and municipalities from restricting the density, maximum lot size, floor area ratio or height of a proposed multifamily or mixed-use residential development below certain levels allowed on or after July 1, 2023;
• provide that a proposed urban infill development must be administratively approved, and a comprehensive plan amendment, rezoning or variance is not required;
• require that required and optional elements of the local comprehensive plan must be consistent and optional elements may not contain policies that restrict the density or intensity established in the future land use element;
• require local governments to adopt an ordinance to allow accessory dwelling units in any area zoned for single family residential use and identify what such regulation may not include; and
• require local governments, beginning Oct 1, 2025, to submit an annual report to the Department of Commerce containing specified information regarding accessory dwelling unit activity for the previous fiscal year.
SB 966 (Sen. Davis) authorizes the Governor of Florida to enter into a rapid rail transit compact with Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi for the feasibility study and establishment of rapid rail transit services between the member states. [Note this bill is identical to HB 833 (Rep. Hinson) identified in the Feb. 21 Legislative Reporter.
SB 978 (Sen. Berman) directs the Department of Environmental Protection to collaborate with water management districts and sewage facilities to produce a comprehensive assessment by December 31, 2025, detailing the condition, capacity, treatment levels, and environmental impact of sewage disposal facilities with a permitted capacity of over 1 million gallons per day; requires a report by Dec. 31, 2026, to establish a priority ranking system for upgrading all sewage facilities to advanced treatment by 2036, outlining project environmental benefits, necessary additional actions, cost-effectiveness, potential funding sources, and project readiness; requires a progress report on specified issues by June 30, 2027. [Note this bill is virtually identical to HB 861(Rep. Cross) identified in the Feb. 21 Legislative Reporter.]
SB 991 (Sen. Giallombardo) and HB 1242 (Rep. McClain), are identical bills which specify a community redevelopment agency in existence on July 1, 2025 shall terminate on the expiration date provided in the agency's charter on July 1, 2025 or on September 30, 2045 whichever is earlier; prohibits a community redevelopment agency from initiating any new projects or issue any new debt on or after October 1, 2025; prohibits a new community redevelopment agency from being created on or after July 1, 2025.
HB 995 (Rep. Mooney, Jr.) and SB 1326 (Sen. Rodriguez) are similar bills which relate to areas of critical state concern; extend specific Florida Forever appropriations to be used for the purchase of lands in the Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern through the 2035-2036 fiscal year; revise the requirements for specified local comprehensive plans in the Florida Keys Area relating to the hurricane evacuation clearance time for permanent residents; requiring certain entities to maintain building permit allocation systems; provides for the award of additional building permit allocations for specified entities.
SB 996 (Sen. Collins) sets the maximum millage rate at 102 percent of the rolled back rate for most taxing authorities and prohibits local authorities from adopting a higher millage rate than this capped rate. [Note this bill is identical to HB 787 (Rep. Chamberlin) identified in the Feb. 21 Legislative Reporter.]
HB 1035 (Rep. Esposito) and SB 1128 (Sen. Ingoglia) amend s.125.56 and s.553.79 to provide that a building permit issued for a single-family dwelling may not expire before the effective date of the next edition of the Florida Building Code, which is updated every 3 years pursuant to s. 553.73(7)( a); provide that a permit application for the construction of a single family dwelling in a jurisdiction for which a state of emergency was issued within the 24 months before the submission of the application, and which is signed and sealed with an attestation by an architect licensed under chapter 481 or an engineer licensed under chapter 471 that the plans in the permit comply with the Florida Building Code, is deemed approved and the local government must issue the permit within 2 days after approval.
SB 1036 (Sen. Rodriguez) creates the “Hotel-to-home Tax Credit Program” to facilitate the conversion of hotels to residential housing. [Note this bill is similar to HB 685 (Rep. J. Alverez) identified in the Feb. 21 Legislative Reporter.]
HB 1063 (Rep. Cross) and SB 1148 (Sen. Rodriguez) are similar bills which create the Carbon Sequestration Task Force, as defined in s.20.03 adjunct to the Department of Environmental Protection to provide recommendations for the development of a statewide carbon sequestration program; require the task force to submit an initial report by Oct. 1, 2026, and a final report by Oct. 1, 2027, after which the task force will terminate on April 30, 2028.
SB 1074 (Sen. McClain) and HB 203 (Rep. Grow) are identical bills which amend s.163.3180(5)(d) to require that the capital improvements element must either identify facilities necessary to meet adopted levels of service during a fiveyear period or to maintain current levels of service.
SB 1080 (Sen. McClain) revises the process for zoning and development applications, including requiring counties and municipalities to specify in writing the minimum information that must be submitted in an application, requiring confirmation of receipt of an application and written notification to the applicant that it is sufficient or specifying deficient areas, defining “substantive change”, and specifying application fee refunds if certain actions by the county or municipality are not timely taken. The bill also revises the expedited state review process by clarifying that a local government must transmit plan amendments within 10 working days after adoption, and providing that the local government complies if the second hearing is held within the required 180-day period following receipt of agency comments, even if the amendments are approved at a subsequent hearing. [Note this bill is similar to HB 579 (Rep. Overdorf) identified in the Feb. 14 Legislative Reporter.]
SB 1116 (Sen. C. Smith) expands the authorized uses of tourist development tax revenues by a county to include: funding public safety improvements, if such improvements are necessary to increase tourist-related business activities in the county or subcounty special taxing district; funding the development and construction of housing that is affordable as defined in s. 420.0004(3), including, but not limited to, any land acquisition, land improvement, design and engineering, and other professional services necessary to develop or construct such housing; funding the development and construction of workforce housing as defined in s. 420.5095(3), including, but not limited to, any land acquisition, land improvement, design and engineering, or other professional services necessary to develop or construct such housing.
SB 1118 (Sen. McClain) and HB 1209 (Rep. Steele) are identical bills which make numerous changes to land use and development regulations, some of which would do the following:
• allow the owner of a parcel of land defined as an agricultural enclave under s. 163.3164,F.S. to apply for administrative approval of development regardless of the future land use map designation of the parcel or any conflicting comprehensive plan goals, objectives, or policies if the owner’s request includes land uses and densities and intensities of use that are consistent with the approved uses and densities and intensities of use of the industrial, commercial, or residential areas that surround the parcel; the development must be treated as a conforming use;
• revise the definition of the terms “agricultural enclave” and “compatibility” and defining the terms “infill residential development” and “contiguous” in s.163.3164 ;
• provide that a comprehensive plan may not mandate whether a methodology for data collection is better than another; optional elements of the comprehensive plan may not contain policies that restrict the density or intensity established in the future land use element; require that the adoption of a comprehensive plan or plan amendment shall be by ordinance approved by affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the governing
body present at the hearing, except that the adoption of a comprehensive plan or plan amendment that contains more restrictive or burdensome procedures concerning development, including, but not limited to, the review, approval, or issuance of a site plan, development permit, or development order, must be by affirmative vote of a supermajority of the members of the governing body;
• provide that the owner of real property subject to a comprehensive plan amendment, or a person applying for a comprehensive plan amendment that is not adopted by the local government and who is not provided the opportunity for a hearing within 180 days after the filing of the application, may file a civil action for declaratory, injunctive, or other relief, which must be reviewed de novo, and the local government has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the application is inconsistent with the local government’s comprehensive plan;
• require local land development regulations to, by Jan. 1, 2026, establish minimum lot sizes within singlefamily, two-family, and fee simple, single-family townhouse zoning districts, including planned unit development and site plan-controlled zoning districts allowing these uses, to accommodate and achieve the maximum density authorized in the comprehensive plan; and
• require that an application for an infill residential development must be administratively approved without requiring a comprehensive plan amendment, rezoning, variance, or any other public hearing by any board or reviewing body if the proposed infill residential development is consistent with current development standards and the density of the proposed infill residential development is the same as the average density of contiguous properties; the development must be treated as a conforming use.
SB 1134 (Sen Calatayud) and HB 1071 (Rep. Benarroch) are similar bills that amend building inspection and plan review statutes, specifically addressing processes for single-trade inspections and reviews.
SB 1142 (Sen. Rodriguez) amends s.704.06 to specify the conditions under which a water management district must release a conservation easement when the fee simple owner applies for the release.
HB 1169 (Rep. Conerly) creates new regulations and reporting requirements for Florida’s water management districts and revises various aspects of budgeting, taxation, project management, and operational protocols. [Note this bill is similar to SB 7002 (Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee) identified in the Feb. 21 Legislative Reporter.]
SB 1188 (Sen. McClain) amends s.163.3164:
• provides that construction projects of public facilities, which are necessary to ensure the protection of the health, safety, and general welfare must be exempt from concurrency and allows a local government to grant an exemption from concurrency for a construction project at a charter school;
• provides that if a local government or special district charges and collects an education impact fee, a developer may contract with a school district or charter school to provide an improvement or a contribution, such as a monetary contribution, land dedication, site and planning design, or construction, which must be credited against the collection of the education impact fee at fair market value;
• prohibits a local governing authorities from imposing or enforcing any vehicular stacking ordinance or regulation against any public school or private school during adopted school hours, including during student drop-off and pick-up hours, in a manner that would limit enrollment; and
• provides that a local governing authority may not require a proposed charter school to obtain special exception or conditional use approval in order to be an allowable use under the local governing authority’s land development code.
Note this bill is similar to HB 569 (Rep. Kendall).
SB 1196 (Sen. Truenow) makes several amendments to local business tax requirements, including a provision that, beginning Oct 1, 2025, the total revenue generated by the business tax each fiscal year may not exceed the revenue
base as defined in the bill, identifying actions that must be taken if the revenue base is exceeded, including refunds. [Note this bill is similar to HB 503 (Rep. Botana) identified in the Feb. 14 Legislative Reporter.]
SB 1228 (Sen. McClain) allows a domestic wastewater treatment facility with an approved plan for eliminating nonbeneficial surface water discharge to submit a request to the Department of Environmental Protection to amend the plan to incorporate a reclaimed water project identified in an Outstanding Florida Springs recovery or prevention strategy adopted pursuant to s. 373.805 requires the department to approve the request within 60 days if all of the following conditions are met: the identified use of reclaimed water will benefit a rural area of opportunity; the project will provide at least 35 million gallons per day of reclaimed water to benefit an Outstanding Florida Spring; the project involves more than one domestic wastewater treatment facility; and the project implementation and surface water discharge elimination schedule meets the requirements of s.373.805. [Note this bill is identical to HB 691 (Rep. Conerly) identified in the Feb. 21 Legislative Reporter.]
SB 1264 (Sen. Collins) is a 183 page bill that makes numerous statutory changes related to rural and urban business enterprises, among which are ones that: revise definitions and criteria related to minority business enterprises, altering focus to urban and rural business enterprises; removes current regional planning council roles from a number of planning processes and committees, and revises the role of regional planning councils.
SB 1304 (Sen. Simon) allows a county, for a solar facility more than 2 megawatts, to adopt an ordinance requiring that the solar facility be properly decommissioned upon the facility reaching the end of its useful life and return the agricultural land that was used for such solar facility to an agriculturally useful condition similar to that which existed before construction of the solar facility; this does not apply to sites subject to an application to build solar facilities before July 1, 2025; deletes language in s.163.3208 that provides an exemption for substations in s.163.3205(2)(c) from specified local land development regulations.
SB 1316 (Sen. Grall) creates the Resilience District Act of 2025, which allows the creation of citizen-initiated financing districts limited to the performance of those specialized functions authorized by the act which solve infrastructure and resilience problems affecting the district’s geographic area, specifically for public infrastructure or condominiums.
SB 1322 (Sen. Simon) establishes the Florida Rural Jobs Act to incentivize investments in rural communities through tax credits. [Note this bill is similar to HB 837 (Rep. Tuck) identified in the Feb. 21 Legislative Reporter.]
SB 1474 (Sen. DiCeglie), amends regulations related to private provider building inspection services; some of the amendments include: prohibiting a local jurisdiction from charging additional fees for building inspections if the fee owner or contractor hires a private provider to perform such services; providing that the local building official may not perform reviews of plans, construction drawings, or any other related documents determined by a private provider to be compliant with the applicable codes; providing that the local building official may review these documents for completeness only. (Note this bill is similar to HB 695 (Rep. Gentry) identified in the Feb. 21 Legislative Reporter.
LEGISLATIVE NEWS
Gov. DeSantis establishes Florida version of DOGE, will cut positions, audit universities
Ana Goni-Lessan | The Florida Times Union | Feb. 24
10 legislative issues to watch when Florida’s session begins next week
Jim Saunders | News Service of Florida | Feb. 24
Lori Bergman, Lindsay Cross seek more info on sewage spills, to develop priority rankings for infrastructure upgrades
Janelle Irwin Taylor | Florida Politics | Feb. 22