Florida Budget Talks Continue, No Session Set

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Plans for Florida lawmakers to return to the Capitol for budget negotiations this month have been put on hold, legislative leaders said.

Recent discussions had raised the possibility of a budget-focused special session during this week. But leaders of both chambers said those timelines are no longer expected to move forward.

Senate President Ben Albritton said negotiations with the House are ongoing and progressing, but lawmakers will not be called back to Tallahassee to discuss the budget immediately.

“Over the past few weeks, Chair Hooper (Sen. Ed Hooper) and I have had productive discussions with our partners in the House on joint budget allocations,” Albritton said in a statement.

House Speaker Daniel Perez echoed that message.

“We continue to work with our partners in the Florida Senate to build an allocation framework for the 2026-2027 state budget,” Perez said. “When we have an update on the timing of the budget, we will notify you.”

The 2026 regular legislative session, which ran from January through March, left several Florida Realtors® legislative priorities still to be decided, with the House and Senate starting from different funding positions:

• Hometown Heroes Housing Program: Initial budget proposals from the House and Senate allocate additional funding for the Hometown Heroes Housing Program. The Senate budget proposal allocates $75 million while the House allocates $50 million.
• My Safe Florida Home (MSFH) and My Safe Florida Condo (MSFC) programs: Both the House and Senate budget proposals direct the unused balance from last year’s budget be reverted to the 2026-2027 budget. This would amount to $444 million for the MSFH program and $30 million for the MSFC program.
• State and Local Government Housing Trust Funds: Both the House and Senate budget proposals would fully fund the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program at $165.7 million and the State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) program at $70.8 million.
• Support Water Quality Efforts: Both legislative chambers want to allocate significant amounts of funding for water quality projects and the environment.
  • Everglades (House $378 million) (Senate $563 million)
  • Rural and Family Lands Program (House $500 million) (Senate $100 million)
  • Protecting Florida’s Springs (House $50 million) (Senate $50 million)
  • Beach and Inlet Management (House $50 million) (Senate $64 million)
  • Water Projects (Senate $148 million)
  • Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience Plan (House $100 million) (Senate $100 million)
  • Wastewater Grant Program (House $175 million) (Senate $125 million)

At the same time, the regular legislative session produced a range of measures shaping real estate practices and property ownership across the state:

• Maintaining Florida’s Real Estate Regulatory Structure and Oversight to Protect Consumers: For the second year in a row, Florida Realtors® successfully prevented the passage of legislation (HB 607) that would have abolished the Florida Real Estate Commission and Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board, replaced all post-licensure and continuing education requirements with an email from DBPR that summarizes the year’s legislative changes, and compromised the state’s “mutual recognition” program that expedites a Florida licensee’s ability to work in other states, and vice versa. These changes would have lessened important statutory consumer protections as well as the value of a real estate license.
• Protecting Private Property Rights: Recall previous legislative victories that protect private property rights by combating home, commercial property, and vacation rental squatters. This session, Florida Realtors supported the passage of SB 1293 (sponsored by REALTOR Caucus member Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez and Rep. Sam Greco) which makes it a felony to move into a rental property by using forged documents or a false identity and allows landlords to quickly remove individuals who gained access through fraud. 
• Preventing a Confusing Septic System Disclosure at Point of Sale: HB 1417, a comprehensive Dept. of Environmental Protection bill, originally included well-intended language outlining a septic tank disclosure that was confusing to consumers and would have been difficult to implement. Florida Realtors successfully worked with the bill sponsors to remove the disclosure and give stakeholders an opportunity to draft legislation more meaningful to consumers and will reduce litigation. 
• Protecting Realtors from Liability in New Property Tax Estimator Disclosure: SB 856 modernizes an existing property tax disclosure to ensure purchasers understand how much their taxes could rise after the sale-triggered reassessment. The bill requires public facing online property listing platforms and websites to display a prospective purchaser’s estimated property taxes in one of two ways. First, the platforms or websites can provide a link to the property appraiser’s tax estimator or homepage and hide the current owner’s and previous years’ taxes. Alternatively, platforms or websites can provide a property tax estimate using current millage rates, or a countywide average, based on formulas and data the Florida Department of Revenue publishes. Importantly, the bill holds licensees and other information providers harmless from liability for the accuracy of the information. While this bill has not yet passed, it will likely be included in legislation that will pass during the upcoming budget process. In an earlier version of the bill, the effective date was February 1, 2027.

© 2026 Florida Realtors®