FDDC’s 2026 Legislative Briefing - Week 8: Mar. 9, 2026

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Senate Bills https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bills/2026
House Bills https://www.flhouse.gov/sections/bills/bills.aspx

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Florida Legislature 2026 Session Update Week 8: Budget Stalled but Priority Legislation Passes

Week 8 came to an end on Friday, March 6. High-level negotiations to establish allocations for the various areas of the budget (e.g. education, health and human services, public safety, etc.) continue with no resolution.

Leadership in both chambers now acknowledge that the budget will not be done in time to allow the Legislature to adjourn by March 13, the last day of the scheduled 60-day session. At this point, the only question is whether they extend the regular session or adjourn and start over in a special session once agreements are hammered out.

Other business of the Legislature has proceeded, however, and week 8 saw the passage of two bills that the Council actively recommended to the Legislature.

See The FDDC 2026 Legislative Priorities

HB 0915- Medical Assistance Eligibility for Working Persons with Disabilities (Tant)

SB 1016- Medical Assistance Eligibility for Working Persons with Disabilities (Bradley)

Codifies the Working People with Disabilities program in Florida Statute. The program allows people with I/DD who work to earn income up to 550% of the Medicaid income standard and assets of $13,000 and retain eligibility for Medicaid Home and Community Based Services. As expected, the Senate took up and passed the House bill on Thursday.

We anticipate that this bill will eventually be presented to the Governor. For each bill, the Governor has the option to sign it into law, veto it, or simply allow the bill to become law without his signature by taking no action within the Constitutionally established time limit (either 7 or 15 days depending on whether the Legislature is in session).

HB 0453- Requirements for Standard High School Diploma (Gossett-Seidman)

SB 0556- Requirements for Standard High Diploma (Berman)

Allows Special Olympics participation to satisfy high school PE requirements. The Senate took up and passed the House bill on Thursday.

We anticipate that this bill will eventually be presented to the Governor. For each bill, the Governor has the option to sign it into law, veto it, or simply allow the bill to become law without his signature by taking no action within the Constitutionally established time limit (either 7 or 15 days, depending on whether the Legislature is in session).

SB 418 / HB 365: Establishes a voluntary “Blue Envelope” program for individuals on the Autism spectrum and mandates law enforcement training. The Senate bill has been passed and is in the House. The House companion has cleared all committees and is on 2nd reading. This means that it is available for consideration for final passage. Our understanding is that there is a disagreement between the two chambers related to law enforcement training that has stalled the bill.

Although close, it is unlikely to pass this session.

HB 0109- Corporal Punishment- (Lopez)

SB 0662- Corporal Punishment (Bernard)

Prohibits school district employees from using corporal punishment on public school students.

SB 0152- Medicaid Provider Networks (Harrell)

HB 0517- Medicaid Provider Networks (Tramont)

Requires Medicaid managed care plans to negotiate and pay dentists at or above agency rates while strengthening provider network requirements for dental services.

HB 0859- Exceptional Students and Video Cameras in Public Schools (Chambliss)

SB 1170- Education (Calatayud)

Requires video cameras in self-contained exceptional education classrooms. The bill has passed the House, but the Senate companion is still in its 2nd committee.

Although close, it is unlikely to pass this session.

SB 0072- Individual Educational Plans (Harrell)

HB 0615- Individual Educational Plans (Tendrich)

Requires timely evaluations, IEP meetings, and enhanced parent engagement for students receiving exceptional student education services. Enhance parent engagement for students receiving exceptional student education services.

HB 565 / SB 794: Addresses APD operations, including core competencies for support coordinators. The House bill has been sent to the Senate which is scheduled to consider both the Senate and House versions on Monday. We anticipate that the Senate will pass the House bill.

This bill appears to be poised for final passage early next week.

HB 0487- Repair of Mobility Devices (Eskamani)

SB 0586- Repair of Mobility Devices (Smith)

Requires original equipment manufacturers to provide owners and independent repair providers with the necessary documentation, software, parts, and tools to repair mobility devices.

SB 1088- Guardianship (Jones)

HB 1099- Guardianship (Aristide)

Prohibit guardians from restricting adult wards‘ contact except under certain circumstances and require notices regarding changes in residential settings and persons entitled to receive information and visits.

HB 1405- Statewide Project for Missing Persons with Special Needs (Duggan)

SB 1570- Statewide Project for Missing Persons with Special Needs (Gaetz)

Revives a program (Project Leo) administered by the Centers for Autism and Related Disabilities that supplies tracking devices to individuals with disabilities at risk of elopement. The House bill has been passed and sent to the Senate. The Senate has scheduled both the Senate and House bills for consideration on Tuesday. We anticipate that the Senate will take up and pass the House bill.

This bill appears to be poised for final passage early next week.

HB 1507- Medicaid Dental Pilot Program (Harris)

SB 1640- Medicaid Dental Pilot Program for Persons with Disabilities (Smith)

Establishes a 3-year Medicaid dental pilot program for persons with disabilities in Region B.

HB 6003- Recovery of Damages for Medical Negligence Resulting in Death (Trabulsy)

SB 1700- Recovery of Damages for Medical Negligence Resulting in Death (Grall)

Removes the statutory bar preventing adult children and parents of an adult child from recovering damages in medical negligence wrongful death cases.

HB 851 / SB 206- Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Harrell): Requires additional training on teaching students with autism for instructional personnel. The Senate took up and passed the House bill with an amendment. The bill will now be sent back to the House. The House can either accept the Senate’s changes and advance the bill to final passage or, if it refuses, it can bounce the bill back. The other option will simply be to not consider the bill and allow it to die for this session.

Although it is very close to passing, the final status remains uncertain.

HB 0411- Terminology Associated with Autism (Maggard)

SB 1652- Terminology Associated with Autism (Burgess)

Updates the definition of autism to align with the most recent edition of the DSM and rename it to include autism spectrum disorder.

HB 411 related to the definition of autism had a proposed committee substitute (PCS) which changes the title to ‘an act related to developmental disabilities’ and completely changed the substance (and title) of the bill. The PCS changes the title to 'an act related to developmental disabilities' (vs act related to terminology associated with autism') and adds Tatton-Brown-Rahman syndrome to the list of I/DD's in chapter 393. The bill no longer addresses changing the definition of autism to include the DSM V criteria.

This is not a comprehensive list. Bills that appear to be dead are intentionally excluded. For the status of additional legislation, visit our tracking page or contact us directly.

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