Fort Lauderdale lays out 2026 state legislative priorities, including housing, transport safety and new workforce training requests

Daphne (city state lobbying lead) presented the draft 2026 state legislative program to the Fort Lauderdale City Commission on Sept. 16, outlining priorities and appropriation requests for the 2026 Florida legislative session (Jan. 13–March 13, 2026). She said the document is a working draft and dollar figures are subject to change as the session approaches.

Key policy statements include expanded economic‑development language to support micro and small businesses; a clarified housing and community‑development position supporting local regulation of short‑term rentals, vacation rentals and sober homes; and interest in accessory dwelling unit (ADU) legislation recently filed by Senator Gates that would allow homesteaded homeowners to rent ADUs under certain conditions.

Appropriation requests listed in the draft included: $1 million for an aviation technical training program in partnership with the Barrington Irving Aviation School at FXE; a request to fund a substance‑abuse and mental‑health treatment housing program at $250,000 to supplement a Department of Children and Families launch; $500,000 for a police cold‑case reduction collaboration program; $643,000 for a fireboat replacement; and multiple infrastructure requests (Breakers Avenue/Galt Mile safety improvements, roadway resurfacing, pump‑station rehabilitation, Los Olas safety and ADA upgrades, a water‑trail infrastructure project and Sunrise Lanes streetscape upgrades). Daphne said some request amounts will be reduced to make them more palatable to appropriations committees.

Commissioners questioned specifics: staff confirmed the city’s unsheltered point‑in‑time count for January 2025 was 615 (replacing an earlier 780 figure from 2023) and said the SAFER grant funding for additional fire positions (a multi‑year federal grant beginning in fiscal 2024) will require local budget planning when the grant period ends. Commissioners also asked about Breakers Avenue funding gaps; transportation staff and the assistant city manager described $3 million in FDOT grant funds, $3 million from a county surtax match and an $850,000 HUD allocation, with the city holding additional budgeted funds and contingency dollars to cover any gap once construction bids are received.

Daphne asked the commission for feedback on project prioritization and noted that the state lobbying team will refine numbers before formal submittal to Tallahassee.