Higher Education; Establishing the Florida Center for Nursing within the University of South Florida; providing that a specified fee waiver applies to a student’s out-of-pocket expenses for tuition and fees after other aid is applied; providing that the LINE Fund was established for shortages in health science professions in addition to nursing; requiring institutions awarded grant funds to submit an annual report by a certain date to the center instead of the Board of Governors or the Department of Education; requiring the Office of Reimagining Education and Career Help to provide specified data to the department, etc.
State Employees; Providing for the resolution of collective bargaining issues at impasse between the state and certified bargaining units for state employees, etc.
Appropriations; Providing moneys for the annual period beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, and supplemental appropriations for the period ending June 30, 2026, to pay salaries, and other expenses, capital outlay - buildings, and other improvements, and for other specified purposes of the various agencies of state government, etc. APPROPRIATION: $115,025,780,033
This bill proposes to reduce the number of judges in several Florida judicial circuits and counties, specifically decreasing the count in the First, Fifth, Seventh, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth circuits, as well as in Duval, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lee, Miami-Dade, Orange, and Walton counties. The legislation amends state statutes to lower these judicial positions by a specific number in each location, ranging from a reduction of one to eight judges depending on the jurisdiction. These changes are scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2026, and the bill is currently being reviewed by a conference committee to finalize details before becoming law.
Retirement; Authorizing an elected officer, except while serving as a legislator, to remain in elective office and receive accumulated Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) proceeds after the officer attains a certain age; revising the cost-of-living adjustment for eligible Special Risk Class retirees; defining the term “eligible Special Risk Class retiree”; revising required employer retirement contribution rates for each membership class and subclass of the Florida Retirement System; revising required allocations from the Contributions Clearing Trust Fund to provide disability coverage to members of the investment plan of the Florida Retirement System, etc.
Department of Management Services; Revises, creates, and repeals provisions relating to administrative health insurance assessments of state agencies; permanent tenants of Capitol Complex; Capitol Center projects, long-range planning, & parking spaces; certification of & state contracting for minority business enterprises; the Office of Supplier Development; participation of Florida-based small business enterprises in state procurement system; Florida Advisory Council on Small & Minority Business Development; Florida Minority Business Loan Mobilization Program; & disposition of specified proceeds used for law enforcement communication systems.
State Agency Law Enforcement Radio System; Abrogating the scheduled expiration of provisions relating to the remission of surcharges for specified criminal offenses and noncriminal moving traffic violations to the Department of Revenue to fund the state agency law enforcement radio system and to provide technical assistance with respect to statewide systems of regional law enforcement communications, etc.
Documentary Stamp Tax Distributions; Revises how taxes collected from documentary stamp tax are distributed; prohibits transfer of specified funds to South Florida Regional Transportation Authority.
Health; Requiring the Social Services Estimating Conference to develop certain official information relating to the pilot program for individuals with developmental disabilities; authorizing the Department of Children and Families, as authorized by and consistent with appropriated funding, to contract with a specified organization to provide grief support services to help certain children and youth; revising the monthly room and board rates the department is required to pay to certain foster parents and caregivers; renaming the Step into Success Workforce Education and Internship Pilot Program as the Step into Success Workforce Education and Internship Program, etc.
Pre-K-12 Education; Revising conditions under which a specified scholarship account’s funds revert to the state; providing a supplement for districts that have a decline in enrollment; requiring that fiscally constrained districts receive a higher calculation than non-fiscally constrained districts, etc.
Fuel Taxes; Revising the distribution of the proceeds of the fuel sales tax; revising the transfer of funds received and collected into the Fuel Tax Collection Trust Fund, etc.
Government Administration; Revises provisions relating to government administration including auditing, reviews, & investigations of programs, appropriations, & state entities; government accountability; planning & budgeting; estimating conferences; EOG budget recommendations; & budget requests.
