Florida Maintains Economic Momentum Following Conclusion of 2026 Legislative Session Despite Discord

Florida’s Regular Legislative Session by the Numbers:

• 1,788 Bills and PCBs filed; approximately 185 general bills passed both chambers
• Florida Chamber of Commerce testified approximately 100 times on legislation impacting job creators
• Florida Chamber is analyzing approximately 4,000 regular session votes cast by lawmakers and will release its annual Legislative Report Card with our forthcoming How They Voted publication
• $1.4 billion difference in House and Senate budgets, requiring a special session before June 30

At the conclusion of the 2026 regular legislative session, Florida has maintained its economic momentum, marking another year of measured progress for job creators without any major steps backward in Florida’s competitiveness.

“Florida continues to outpace much of the nation because of a united business community that is focused on the right things happening in Florida,” said Mark Wilson, President & CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce. “This year, lawmakers took incremental steps in strengthening Florida’s business climate without backtracking on policies that have led to Florida’s nationally-recognized pro-business environment, ensuring job creators and families can continue to thrive.”

Throughout the 2026 session, the Florida Chamber remained focused on the issues that furthered Florida’s economic competitiveness and aligned with our Florida 2030 Blueprint. Key priorities championed by the Florida Chamber included:

• Protecting taxpayers and putting students first with further public sector union transparency and accountability: Continues the work from 2023 to strengthen collective bargaining processes by requiring a higher threshold to ensure the entire bargaining class is represented and protects taxpayers by preventing taxpayer dollars from being used on union or political activity. When 43 percent of third graders are unable to read at grade level, the focus should be on the classroom and not on union activities.
• Creating clarity to benefit job creators and employees: Provides certainty and clarity on the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit under the Florida Civil Rights Act when either the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission or the Florida Commission on Human Relations is performing an investigation of an alleged violation.
• Expanding affordable workforce housing options and opportunities: Continues the work of “Live Local” to address additional workforce housing needs by restricting local governments from circumventing Live Local requirements through excessive regulations and authorizing residential housing on property owned by local governments.
• Lowering costs on new development: Provides clarity, consistency, and prevents abuse in the way local governments calculate impact fees by defining “extraordinary circumstances,” ensuring these fees are truly being used to pay for future infrastructure needs.
• Expanding opportunities to address healthcare workforce shortages: Expands the successful Linking Industry with Nursing Education (LINE) matching grant fund to allow greater opportunity and flexibility for Florida’s higher education institutions to partner with stakeholders to grow their nursing education and other related health science programs that provide direct care and diagnostic services to patients.
• Strengthening resiliency of Florida’s coastal and inland communities: Promotes public-private partnerships and investment in resiliency projects while also expediting permitting for the construction and hardening of critical infrastructure to protect against extreme weather, flooding, and coastal erosion.
• Streamlining Florida’s building permit process: Provides clarity, enhances predictability, and modernizes the permitting process by establishing a statewide uniform permit application for residential and commercial projects while also relaxing minor projects from permitting, and prevents delays in construction by encouraging private provider options and preventing duplicate inspections.
• Furthering Florida’s leadership in mobility innovation: Advances the Florida Chamber Autonomous Florida goal of making Florida the global capital of mobility innovation by investing in Florida’s advanced air mobility industry and adds vertiports and charging stations to the list of qualified public-private partnerships.
• Attracting high-value economic development projects: Creates a framework for Florida to continue to compete for the attraction and development of large-scale data centers – and the economic benefits and revenue generation they offer – while ensuring Florida’s ratepayers, water and communities remain protected.

The Florida Chamber also worked tirelessly to defeat legislation that would have reversed progress already made toward improving Florida’s legal climate or that would have discouraged innovation and additional business development in Florida. Once again this year, legislation was filed, heard and ultimately defeated that would have undone provisions of the historic 2023 lawsuit abuse reforms. Additionally, legislation was advanced initially that would have effectively barred certain companies or industries from doing business in Florida, despite the beneficial economic impact of these projects.

“Florida’s economic success does not happen by accident,” said David Sweeney, Chairman of the board for RS&H and the Florida Chamber of Commerce. “It requires consistent leadership, data-driven policy and strong partnerships between the private sector and policymakers, and for over 100 years, the Florida Chamber has been at the helm steering Florida’s business community to success.”

Further work remains when the legislature returns to Tallahassee to complete work on the budget and outstanding tax policies. The Florida Chamber continues to encourage the legislature to consider adopting provisions of the “Trump Tax Cuts” from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to encourage capital investment and innovation in Florida.

“Florida cannot rest on its laurels but must continue focusing on our economic competitiveness and pro-business environment,” Frank Walker, Executive Vice President of Government & Political Relations, said. “As we continue to compete with other states and nations, Florida can send a signal that investment and innovation are welcome in Florida by easing administrative and economic burdens through the adoption of additional pro-business policies that stimulate job creation and unleash pathways to prosperity for all Floridians.”

The Florida Chamber team is analyzing thousands of votes and will release its annual Legislative Report Card with its annual publication How They Voted, highlighting grades earned by all 156 legislators in the Florida House and Senate based on their votes during the 2026 legislative session. The Florida Chamber Legislative Report Card is an annual opportunity to recognize members of the Florida Legislature who placed making Florida more competitive through private-sector job creation above special interests and their attempts to protect the status quo. The Report Card also lets Florida families, small businesses, taxpayers, and voters know who voted in favor of private-sector job creation and a stronger economy.

Click here to view the Florida Chamber’s full legislative review of what passed, what was defeated, and what remains unfinished business at the conclusion of the 60-day regular legislative session.