The 2026 Florida Legislative Session commenced on Tuesday, January 13, and concluded this afternoon, Friday, March 13, with over 1,700 pieces of legislation filed. However, due to ongoing budget negotiations, the House and Senate will need to return at a later date to reach a final budget agreement. The Senate President and House Speaker have signaled that the Legislature would convene for a special session in mid-April to pass a budget.

The Legislative Tax Package, covered in the Week 8 Rotunda Report, will also be finalized during these budget negotiations. However, both chambers have already agreed upon and passed a provision that would “decouple” Florida’s Corporate Income Tax from recent federal changes. The bill, HB 7031 (companion SB 7048), is available to be sent to the Governor.

Over the course of the 60-day session, many bills were considered that could potentially impact your business or industry in various ways. This Rotunda Report provides a high-level summary of what occurred during the final week of Session. In our Legislation Spotlight, Stearns Weaver Miller attorney Emily Pepin Bouza and Director of Planning Barry Wilcox provide a deeper analysis of the Qualified Contractors legislation.

WEEK 9 RECAP

Over the course of the 2026 Legislative Session, prior Rotunda Reports have provided a brief summary of some of the bills moving through the process. As the final week comes to an end, this week’s recap will focus on those bills that crossed the finish line, as well as a few high-profile bills that did not make it through the process. If legislation passed out of both chambers, it is available to be presented to the Governor for his signature, which should occur over the coming months. Once presented to the Governor by the Officers of the Legislature, the Governor has 15 days to sign or veto the bill. 

Crossed the Finish Line

• Qualified Contractors: SB 1138 (Sen. Massullo) / HB 927 (Rep. Sapp) – HB 927 was passed by the House on Thursday, March 5.The Senate substituted HB 927 for SB 1138, and subsequently amended and passed the House bill the same day. The bill is now available to be presented to the Governor. 
• Live Local 4.0: SB 1548 (Sen. Calatayud) / HB 1389 (Rep. Redondo) – HB 1389 was passed by the House on Wednesday, March 4. On Friday, March 6, the Senate substituted HB 1389 for SB 1548, and subsequently amended and passed the House bill. On Thursday, March 12, the bill was heard again by the House where it was amended and passed. On Friday, March 13, the Senate concurred with the amended language and passed the bill. The bill is now available to be presented to the Governor. 
• Local Government Spending/Impact Fees: SB 1566 (Sen. DiCeglie) / HB 1329 (Rep. Benarroch) – HB 1329 was passed by the House on Wednesday, March 4. On Friday, March 6 the Senate substituted HB 1329 for SB 1566, and subsequently amended and passed the House bill. On Thursday, March 12, the House concurred with the amended language and passed the bill. The bill is now available to be presented to the Governor.
• Building Permits and Inspections: SB 1234 (Sen. DiCeglie) / HB 803 (Rep. Trabulsy) – HB 803 was passed by the House on Wednesday, February 25. On Thursday, March 5 the Senate substituted HB 803 for SB 1234, and subsequently amended and passed the House bill. On Thursday, March 12, the House concurred with the amended language and passed the bill. The bill is now available to be presented to the Governor. 
• Infill Redevelopment: SB 1434 (Sen. Calatayud) / HB 979 (Rep. Borrero) – SB 1434 was passed by the Senate on Thursday, March 5. The bill was subsequently heard and passed by the House after substituting SB 1434 for HB 979 on Tuesday, March 10. The bill is now available to be presented to the Governor.
• Agricultural Enclaves: SB 686 (Sen. McClain) / HB 691 (Rep. Botana) – SB 686 was passed by the Senate on Thursday, February 26. The bill was subsequently heard and passed by the House after substituting SB 686 for HB 691 on Wednesday, March 11. The bill is now available to be presented to the Governor.
• Infill Residential: SB 208 (Sen. McClain) / HB 399 (Rep. Borrero) – HB 399 was passed by the House on Tuesday, March 3. On Friday, March 13 the Senate substituted HB 399 for SB 208, and subsequently amended and passed the house bill. The House concurred with the amended language and passed the bill on the same day. The bill is now available to be presented to the Governor.
• Former Phosphate Mining Lands: HB 167 (Rep. McClure) – HB 167 was passed by the House on Thursday, January 15 and passed by the Senate on Wednesday, March 11. The bill is now available to be presented to the Governor.
• Data Centers: SB 484 (Sen. Avila) / HB 1007 (Rep. Griffitts) – SB 484 was passed by the Senate on Thursday, February 26. The bill was subsequently amended and passed by the House after substituting SB 484 for HB 1007 on Wednesday, March 11. On Friday, March 13, the Senate concurred with the amended language and passed the bill. The bill is now available to be presented to the Governor.

Failed to Pass

• Burdensome Regulations: SB 840 (Sen. DiCeglie) – After the Senate passed SB 840, the measure was referred to the Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee and was not voted on again. 
• Community Owners Associations: SB 1498 (Sen. Bradley) / HB 657 (Rep. Porras) – After SB 1498 was heard in its first committee, it was not placed on another committee agenda. HB 657 was passed by the House, but was not heard by the Senate. 
• Blue Ribbon Projects: SB 354 (Sen. McClain) / HB 299 (Rep. Melo) – Both bills were available to be heard by their respective chambers on the floor, but neither bill received a final vote. 

LEGISLATION SPOTLIGHT:

QUALIFIED CONTRACTORS

Florida continues to struggle to meet the demand for new housing due to record increases in population, among other systemic issues. One component causing the deficit in the housing supply is the inability to approve sufficient new developments quickly enough to meet the demand. The issues are multifaceted, but are exacerbated through failures in processing development applications efficiently at the local level. The legislature has addressed this issue over the last few years, including recently enacting statewide uniform shot-clocks for applications requiring quasi-judicial approvals, and applications that can be approved administratively, as previously covered in a news alert. In an effort to continue to address these delays, the Legislature recently passed HB 927 filed by Rep. Sapp (Senate Companion - SB 1138 filed by Sen. Massullo), regarding “Qualified Contractors,” which requires local governments to create a registry of qualified contractors that will be available to pre-certify certain development applications. This legislation aims to reduce the time it takes to receive development application approvals by augmenting government staff with the private sector. 

Background

Local governments in Florida are responsible for reviewing and issuing development permits within their jurisdiction for the subdivision and development of property in accordance with their respective comprehensive plans and land development codes (“LDC”). Local governments across Florida have vastly different processes for such approvals, and the size of the office responsible for reviewing the application varies greatly. Most jurisdictions have authorized staff to approve some applications administratively based on the criteria set forth in their LDCs; however, some applications require public hearings before an appointed or elected board through a quasi-judicial proceeding. To ensure that applications are being reviewed and processed within the set timeframes, some local governments currently opt to contract with private sector firms to review applications in addition to its dedicated staff. However, not all jurisdictions avail themselves of this option resulting in delayed processing of applications.

Summary

HB 927 creates a new statutory framework authorizing the use of qualified contractors in the development permit preapplication review process and amends related platting and expedited building permits statutes. The qualified contractors portion of the legislation amends §§125.022, 166.033, and 163.3169, Florida Statutes, and requires local governments meeting population thresholds (counties greater than 75,000 | cities greater than 10,000) to create a program by January 1, 2027 allowing applicants to use qualified contractors for preapplication review. Qualified contractors include licensed engineers, architects, and surveyors, and certain certified and experienced planners. Development services offices in qualifying local governments will be required to establish a registry of at least two qualified contractor firms or four individual qualified contractors as part of the program.

The newly established preapplication review process will allow applicants to elect to have their application pre-certified by the local government through the utilization of a qualified contractor for technical correctness and completeness in accordance with a jurisdiction’s LDC as part of its application submittal. This alternative applies to site plan approvals and plat approvals which are “expressly designated by the local government for administrative review” and do not require discretionary review by an appointed review board or governing body. The legislation limits local government review to confirming administrative completeness and prohibits duplicative review of materials certified by affidavit by the qualified contractor. The legislation further provides that applicants will have an unconditional right to use a qualified contractor of their choice if the program or registry is not properly established; however, qualified contractor cannot have a conflict of interest with the project being reviewed.  

In addition to creating the new program in §163.3169, Florida Statutes, the legislation also aligns county and municipal preapplication timelines with the new qualified contractor framework in §§125.022 and 166.033, Florida Statutes. The new deadlines include requiring the local government to confirm acceptance of applications utilizing a qualified contractor in five business days, and also creating a 45-day shot-clock for approving the application.

The legislation also updates the administrative approval of final plats section to prohibit local governments from imposing additional inconsistent procedures for plat approval, requires acceptance of commonly used financial assurance instruments and limits review to objective standards.

Finally, the legislation amends the expedited residential building permits statute by clarifying the definition of applicant and expanding applicability to multiphased developments. Further, it specifies that if a local government fails to adopt or update an expedited permit program, applicants may use a qualified contractor to certify up to 75% of building permits prior to final plat recording and prohibits local governments from restricting use of qualified contractors under specified conditions.

Overall Effect

HB 927 expands the role of private-sector qualified contractors in the administrative review of land development permits, limits duplicative local review, creates enforceable timelines, and provides applicants legal remedies if local governments do not comply with statutory requirements. The legislation should make an impact on cutting down processing time for new developments in Florida.

Stearns Weaver Miller will continue to monitor development-related legislation impacting land use and growth management policy as the 2026 Session progresses.