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Southern Group briefs Seminole commissioners on this year's special sessions, budget and local-impact bills
Summary
Southern Group lobbyists summarized three special sessions and dozens of bills the county tracked, noting a roughly $117 billion state budget after vetoes, a vetoed sovereign-immunity change, new limits on DEI spending by local governments, and other measures affecting permitting, utilities and land use.
Southern Group representatives gave the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners a recap of the recent legislative session and three special sessions, focusing on measures that affect counties.
"Outside of the regular session, which started on January 13 and somewhat ended March 13, we saw 3 additional special sessions," said one Southern Group presenter, who walked commissioners through the budget, congressional redistricting and property-tax special sessions and their local implications. The presenters said the legislature's proposed budget came in around $118 billion and that the governor used line-item vetoes reducing the total to roughly $117 billion.
The presenters flagged a vetoed sovereign-immunity bill that would have raised liability caps and limited attorneys' fees, and they described a bill restricting use of local funds for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. "It really just prohibits any city or county from putting any kind of budget towards DEI officers, initiatives, programs," the presenter said. They also described bills affecting municipal utilities, permitting, building-code processes and the creation of a statewide uniform permit by the Florida Building Commission.
Commissioners asked how the changes would affect local home-rule authority and emphasized a need to monitor future amendments. Chair (speaker 1) and several commissioners signaled they will continue to work with the county's lobbyists to protect local prerogatives and seek clarifications on implementation timelines.
