We are officially in overtime for the Florida Legislative Session. While policy bills should be off the table following the May 2 deadline of regular session, the Florida Legislature has extended session in order to negotiate and finalize a state budget. Notably, setting a state budget is the one constitutionally required action of the Florida Legislature. As the May 2 deadline approached in the final weeks of session, there remained significant differences between the Senate and House allocations for budget. Now, two weeks later, we are still waiting to see an agreed-upon budget framework between the two chambers. So, what does this extension mean and what happened with our policy priorities during session?
State Budget & Legislative Extension
The Legislature has extended session to June 6, 2025 for budget negotiation and implementation. Recent reports indicate that the extension could be stretched to the end of June. In the budget negotiation weeks ahead, we will have an eye on allocations for important environmental programs supporting water quality, coastal and beach protection, and land acquisition and conservation across the state. Previous budget proposals indicated that the House sought to cut funding for the Florida Forever Program, the state’s preeminent land acquisition and conservation program that bolsters water quality, resilience, and coastal protection. We will keep you updated as budget negotiations continue through the extended session. The 2026 fiscal year begins on July 1, so taking negotiations into June will be down to the wire for finalizing a state budget and securing the Governor’s sign-off.
Policy Update
As always, this session was a busy one with a mix of the good and the bad for our communities, coasts, and ocean. The Surfrider network was engaged throughout the process advocating for common-sense actions, solutions grounded in science and community support, and the protection of our coasts and ocean. Below is a breakdown of where policy bills landed as of May 2, the end of regular session.
Want to add your thanks to legislators who championed ocean and coastal issues this session? Add your name here.
Want to add your name to letters urging Governor DeSantis to consider the ocean and coasts as he decides which bills to sign into law and which to veto? Add your name here.
The Good
This session saw several significant victories for our coasts, communities, and ocean:
State Parks Preservation Act Passed – The state parks bill (HB209) passed unanimously in its strongest form and is ready to be sent to the Governor for signature. This bill builds on the energy and public opposition from last summer to provide permanent protections for our state parks against reckless development projects and requires more transparency and opportunity for public engagement in parks’ land management planning. We are grateful to the leadership of Senators Harrell and Bradley and Representatives Snyder and Gossett-Seidman for sponsoring the bills, and to the Florida Legislature for listening and responding to Floridians. Surfrider worked alongside many partners across the state, including Sierra Club Florida, 1000 Friends of Florida, Audubon Florida, Florida Springs Council, and many others, to call for the strongest, permanent protections for our parks.
Auxiliary Container Preemption Expansion Defeated – For the second year in a row, persistent grassroots opposition prevented the passage of language that would have expanded the statewide plastics preemption, added new containers and materials to the preemption, and negated existing local laws related to single-use containers and polystyrene (foam). In the final hours of the regular session, the Senate added the preemption language into a different bill (HB1609) and continued to send it to the House for approval. Twice the House rejected the preemption language, and ultimately allowed the entire bill HB1609 to die instead of passing it with the added language. Throughout session, Surfrider’s network met with legislators, including during our Florida Healthy Beaches Day at the Capitol, engaged in countless calls and emails, and worked with Surfrider’s Ocean Friendly Restaurant partners to share perspectives and insight from small business owners reducing plastic usage and distribution. We thank Rep. Weinberger, Rep. Rizo, Rep. Blanco, the House bill co-sponsors, Rep. Bartleman and the Florida House for listening to Floridians and opposing the addition of the preemption language. We also thank Senators Garcia, Smith, and Bradley for their determined opposition in the Senate. Surfrider worked with key partners, including Florida Springs Council, Sea Turtle Conservancy, Oceana, Clean Miami Beach, and Ocean Conservancy, to oppose this preemption expansion.
Recreational Customary Use of Beaches Passed – SB1622 passed the Florida Legislature with overwhelming support and is ready to be sent to the Governor for signature. This bill repeals the law established by HB631 in 2018, which set forth procedural requirements for local governments seeking to recognize and protect the public’s customary use of beaches through a local ordinance. The outcome of the law has been fraught with difficulties and detrimental for the beachgoing public, particularly in Walton County. The procedural requirements have been arduous, expensive, and time-consuming for local governments seeking to protect existing customary use rights. The public’s “customary use” of Florida beaches is a longstanding way of life here in the state. This repeal legislation restores authority to local governments to protect recreational customary use on Florida beaches through local ordinances and will help facilitate the public’s rightful access to our treasured beaches. We thank Senators Trumbull, Rouson, and Berman and Representatives Andrade and Abbott for sponsoring this legislation and their leadership on this issue.
Onshore Drilling Restrictions Passed – HB1143 Permits for Drilling, Exploration, and Extraction of Oil and Gas Resources passed the Florida Legislature unanimously and is ready to be sent to the Governor for signature. This bill prohibits oil exploration and drilling in areas located in counties designated as rural areas of opportunity and within 10 miles of a national estuarine research reserve. This provision would prohibit exploration or drilling within the Apalachicola Bay area. Additionally, the bill establishes the factors that must be considered with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection assesses whether natural resources would be adequately protected in the event of an accident or blowout. The Down River Project and grassroots efforts from the public drove the advancement of this significant legislation. Senator Simon, Rep. Shoaf, and Rep. Tant were sponsors and leaders amongst the Legislature.
Flood Disclosure Updates Passed – SB948 Flood Disclosures passed the Florida Legislature and is ready to be sent to the Governor for signature. This bill expands the significant flood disclosure requirements passed last year to apply to rental properties and condominiums. Landlords will be required to disclose certain information regarding flood risks and past flooding events to prospective renters. Further, the bill expands the property disclosures under current law to require the seller to disclose any flood damage that occurred during their ownership and whether the owner has received assistance from any source for flood damage (previously only required to disclose assistance from federal sources).
Still Priorities for Future Sessions
Some of our priority issues and tracked legislation did not advance through the Legislature this year. With nearly 2,000 bills on the table, every session presents challenges for key legislation to make it off the floor of both chambers. The legislation below did not pass the full Legislature this year but will continue to be a future priority for Surfrider:
Safe Waterways Act – After unanimous passage in 2024 and a disappointing veto from the Governor, the Safe Waterways Act legislation was introduced again this session by Senator Rodriguez and Representative Gossett-Seidman. The bill strengthened water quality monitoring and notification rules for more consistency, enforcement, and information access. The bill also established a process and timeline for the transition of the state’s beach water quality monitoring and public notification program from the Department of Health to the DEP. While the bill continues to have significant, bipartisan support among legislators, it did not advance in committees this year. Alongside our legislator champions, we remain committed to the passage of this vital legislation in the future for public health, beach water quality, and our communities.
Nature-Based Solutions Legislation – Nature-based legislation advanced with full support in the Senate, SB50 passing off the Senate floor, and the House, HB371 advancing through all committee stops. Unfortunately, the legislation ran out of runway as the end of session approached and it was not brought to the House floor for a vote or reconciliation between the differences in the Senate and House versions. The Senate bill set forth a more expansive approach including rulemaking directives that included important nature-based methods as well as hybrid green-gray infrastructure options for resilience. The House bill required DEP to create guidelines for nature-based projects to better inform and support local governments and entities pursuing these options. We thank Representative Mooney and Senator Garcia for their continued leadership on nature-based solutions for coastal resilience and look forward to advancing this legislation in future sessions.
Carbon Sequestration Task Force – This bipartisan legislation advanced through one committee stop in both the Senate and the House, but did not progress further this year. This bill established a task force to assess land and aquatic management practices across the state to assess the potential for carbon storage and private funding partnerships. The goal of the task force is to put forward recommendations and information to guide state decision-makers in land use management, sustainable agricultural practices, and beneficial aquatic resources management.
The Bad
While there are many things to celebrate from session, there are also a slew of bills that raise concerns for water quality, resilience, and thriving coastal communities:
Mitigation Banking Bill Jeopardizes Wetlands & Coastal Resilience – SB492 Mitigation Banking will make it easier for developers to pave over wetlands without requiring them to also engage in more effective mitigation actions. Wetlands are vital to water quality, providing natural filtration, and coastal resilience, serving as natural buffers during flooding and extreme weather. With rampant development and significant population growth across the state, it is imperative that we protect undeveloped wetlands and swamps, not make areas more vulnerable to reckless development. Under current law, developers must purchase credits from a wetland mitigation bank if their plans will destroy existing wetlands. The credits are improvements to wetlands on other property to offset the harms, and generally the credits must be located in the same watershed as the wetlands that will be destroyed or degraded. This framework seeks to establish balance and ensure harm offsets benefit the watershed being jeopardized. This bill will allow credits to be purchased from mitigation banks outside of the watershed where the development and harm is occuring. By removing the mitigation from the same watershed, this has the potential to create development and pollution sacrifice zones. Meanwhile credits will be purchased for wetlands in a region with little – or even no – ecological connection to watershed being developed. Although this bill was amended during the process to address some environmental and ecological concerns, the provision allowing credit purchasing in other regions could have significant negative consequences for water quality, pollution, and resilience across the state.
Emergency Management Bill Undermines Local Planning Authority – SB180 Emergencies encompasses a range of issues related to emergency management and preparedness. While the bill includes provisions that will aid planning and recovery efforts for storms and extreme weather, an amendment added to the bill in the final hours of session presents serious concerns for local government authority and local planning regulations. The bill prohibits any counties (and the municipalities within) that were listed in the federal disaster declarations for Hurricanes Debbie, Milton, and Helene from enacting construction moratoriums on redevelopment for storm-damaged properties. It also prohibits any regulations, procedures, or comprehensive land planning amendments that are more “restrictive or burdensome” through 2027. Every county in Florida was included in one of these declarations last hurricane season, so this restriction is statewide. The law also bans any more restrictive or burdensome local planning for communities within 100 miles of a storm’s track for at least a year following the storm.
The expansive nature of the language “burdensome and restrictive” could encompass far more than intended by the bill and these terms are not defined in statute. Rather than promoting disaster recovery, the inclusion of these provisions has the potential to gut local planning authority, paralyze sustainable growth plans and pragmatic development management, and put local governments in a vulnerable position for litigation from developers.
What's next?
It has certainly been a unique session – with many twists and turns – and the ride isn’t over yet! Just as the Surfrider network engaged throughout the regular legislative session, we will remain alert during ongoing budget negotiations and ready to advocate for funding to protect our coasts, community, and ocean.