Week 6 – 2/20/26: Florida Legislature 2026 Session Update: Budget and Key Bills Take Shape
Thursday, February 19, 2026, and we are at day 40, week 6 of the 9-week 2026 regular session of the Florida Legislature. Attention is shifting to the budget that will be discussed in more detail below. Bills that have not moved through at least their first committee are likely dead.
Congratulations to Bob Asztalos who was unanimously confirmed by the Florida Senate to serve as the Executive Director of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. FDDC Executive Director Valerie Breen and Jim DeBeaugrine as well as other Florida stakeholders were in the Senate gallery to show support and share in this special moment.
Budget Highlights
Late last week (after publication of our Legislative briefing last week), both chambers released their initial budget proposals along with a series of conforming bills and the implementing bill. As this is being written, the House just passed its version of the General Appropriations Act and is moving onto the implementing bill and the series of conforming bills. Once both chambers pass their budgets, the next step will be to appoint House and Senate members to conference committees to negotiate the differences in the budget, as well as the conforming bills and the implementing bill. The resulting work product will be a series of conference reports that both chambers will vote on for final passage. Once the final budget passes the Legislature, the Governor has line-item veto authority. This means that he can veto individual spending items in the budget while leaving the rest of the budget intact. He does not have similar authority for any other bill, which he must either veto or approve in total as passed.
The reader is cautioned that the following highlights are based on each chamber’s initial budget and subject to change based on negotiations during conference:
iBudget Waiver
Both chambers allocated $22 million (with federal matching funds) to the iBudget waiver but with differing approaches:
- House: Directs that funds be used to reduce the waiting list.
- Senate: Applies funds to an across-the-board provider rate increase.