Look around you. Does it appear Florida is developing too slowly?

Key Legislators in Tallahassee seem to think so, and have introduced more than a dozen bills ahead of the 2026 Legislative session that could permanently change the way Florida grows by making it quicker and easier to obtain permits — perhaps at the expense of environmental oversight — limiting local governments’ ability to enforce its own rules, and cutting the public out of the approval process.

On a positive note, efforts are underway to amend last year’s Senate Bill 180, which effectively made it impossible for local communities around Florida to update or amend their growth-regulation rules.

But at the same time, other legislative proposals would let development run wild:

  • House Bill 105 and Senate Bill 588, “Local Government Enforcement Actions,” are an identical pair of bills which would prohibit local governments from taking enforcement actions deemed “arbitrary or unreasonable,” which could be defined as anything causing “unreasonable” delays to development. Violators could face up to $50,000 in damages, along with court costs and attorney fees.
  • House Bill 691 and Senate Bill 686, “Agricultural Enclaves,” could allow for administrative approval — with no public input — of residential development on any parcel deemed an “agricultural enclave,” so long as it matched the use, density and intensity of adjacent parcels.
  • House Bill 299 and Senate Bill 354, “Blue Ribbon Projects,” would create a new category of development encompassing at least 10,000 acres, stipulating that any proposal meeting certain requirements can override existing land-use or zoning designations, with no amendments or rezoning needed. Local governments must approve administratively if requirements are met, with no opportunity for public input.
  • House Bill 399 and Senate Bill 208, “Land Use and Development Regulations,” would forbid local governments from denying or delaying approval of a residential development for being incompatible with existing nearby development if certain requirements are met. It also provides that an application for an infill residential development must be administratively approved without public hearing and treated as a conforming use if the proposed development meets certain standards. 

That’s just for starters. One of the most egregious pairs of bills filed yet this year, House Bill 479 and Senate Bill 718, “Land and Water Management,” would prohibit local governments from adopting any regulations on water quality or quantity, pollution control or wetlands, preempting all such authority to the state. Vulnerable communities that have chosen to enact additional protections for sensitive environmental areas could see those protections evaporate — with huge repercussions.

And the bad ideas aren’t limited to development issues. One pair of matching bills, House Bill 433 and Senate Bill 290, dubbed the “Florida Farm Bill,” would radically expand the state’s existing “food libel law,” effectively allowing Florida’s sugar industry to sue and perhaps silence its critics. The bills would allow agricultural producers to sue for disparagement of non-perishable products — like sugar — and expand the definition of “agricultural food product” to include farming practices, such as sugarcane burning prior to harvest. Bottom line, if passed, the bills would curtail the free-speech rights of Floridians who scrutinize and criticize Big Sugar.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. There is some clean-water legislation in the works, including House Bill 669 and Senate Bill 1042, which would require the state to post signs identifying polluted waterways sooner and more prominently; similar bills have failed in the past but the need persists.

And a pair of bills have been filed to rein in Gov. Ron DeSantis’s use of emergency authority; House Bill 621 and Senate Bill 700 would stipulate that any state of emergency renewed by the Governor expires within a specified time, among other provisions. DeSantis, who declared a state of emergency over immigration in 2023, and among other things has used emergency powers to build, fund and operate the Everglades detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

Florida’s annual 60-day legislative session begins January 13 and lasts through March 13. In line with our 2026 Legislative Priorities, we offer the following analysis of bills that have been filed.