Democratic Sen. Tracie Davis is one of the lawmakers representing Jacksonville in the Florida Legislature. | Colin Hackley, News Service of Florida
Published on January 13, 2026 at 9:47 pm
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State lawmakers from Northeast Florida filed dozens of bills in the lead up to the 60-day legislative session, which began Tuesday in Tallahassee.
With possible special sessions already looming on congressional redistricting and whether to put a referendum on the ballot for Florida voters to cut property taxes, locally elected Republicans are focusing their legislative energy on more protections for charter schools, immigration compliance tied to the economy, and local projects and initiatives. Republicans have a strong majority in both chambers of the state Legislature.
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Locally elected Democratic lawmakers will use the 2026 session to push bills aimed at increasing affordability and consumer protection in property insurance and health care.
One big issue: Property tax reform
In November, Rep. Dean Black, R-Jacksonville, was vice chair of a Select Committee on Property Taxes that advanced one of the seven House Republican proposals to either eliminate taxes or add homestead property exemptions.
If passed, HJR 209 would place an amendment to the Florida Constitution that would increase the non-school homestead property tax exemption by $200,000 for homes with property insurance. The amendment would also prohibit local governments from reducing total funding for first responders.
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House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, said Tuesday he expects the House to put forward a single proposed constitutional amendment on cutting property taxes, according to News Service of Florida.
During his State of the State Address on Tuesday before a joint session of the House and Senate, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis again called on lawmakers to pass property tax reform amendments, which would need voter approval.
“You should be able to own your home without paying perpetual rent to the government. The Legislature has the ability to place a measure on the ballot to provide transformational relief for taxpayers,” DeSantis said. “Let’s resolve to all work together, get something done and let the people have a say.”
School changes coming?
The Duval County School Board last week voted to urge lawmakers to “protect school district resources” and clarify what they say is ambiguous language around “Schools of Hope” charter schools.
They joined other school boards statewide calling for reform of the program, which is set to allow charter operators to operate inside school buildings that are below capacity, rent free.
It’s unclear what changes to Schools of Hope, if any, could be adopted this session, as the Legislature has had a multi-year trend of passing legislation that strengthens the expansion of privately run charter schools.
For one, Jacksonville Republican Sen. Clay Yarborough has filed Senate Bill 1704, which strengthens local funding sources for charter schools; mandates maintenance funds generated by or allocated to a facility that converts to a charter school remain with that school; and exempts charters from most fees for building permits, building and occupational licenses and impact fees.
Rep. Judson Sapp, R-Green Cove Springs, filed a similar bill in the House.
Yarborough also wants to prevent school districts from prohibiting students from including political or ideological viewpoints in coursework or on clothing. His SB 1006 and the related House bill 835 would also create a “private cause of action for persons and student clubs or groups harmed by specified violations.”
Local issues, state say
Lawmakers are also bringing a swath of hyperlocal bills to Tallahassee that exclusively affect counties and cities in the region.
Rep. Wyman Duggan, R-Jacksonville, has filed HB 4049 to get the Legislature to make a Jacksonville City Charter change that would allow the school board to hire its own attorney free of the city attorney’s supervision. The Jacksonville City Council declined to endorse the change.
Rep. Black, whose district includes Nassau County, has also filed HB 4017, which would abolish that county’s Recreation and Water Conservation and Control District No. 1.
Locally elected Republicans will also continue efforts to end government-sponsored diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Black has filed HB 1001 that prohibits local and county government from promoting or funding DEI offices and also extends requirements to county grant recipients. Yarborough has filed a companion bill SB 1134 in the Senate.
Yarborough is also advancing SB 998, which requires businesses that must use E-verify to check employees’ immigration status to keep logs of each employee’s eligibility. The same bill also updates the definition of a rural community to allow smaller or economically distressed areas to qualify for additional state investment and infrastructure programs.
DeSantis told lawmakers Thursday that he wants to continue to push against DEI initiatives and sign legislation that aligns with his priority of working with federal officials to rid Florida of undocumented immigrants.
“My message is simple. Get those bills to my desk. In the spirit of 1776, I’m happy to put my John Hancock on those pieces of legislation,” DeSantis said.
Florida Black History Museum
Sen. Thomas Leek, R-Ormond Beach, will try again to get the creation of the Florida Museum of Black History and its board of directors through the legislature and codified. Last year, the House declined to hear the bill.
This year, Leek’s SB 308 has a companion bill filed in the House by Rep. Kiyan Michael, R-Jacksonville. In 2024, a state task force selected the former Florida Memorial College in St. Augustine as the museum’s future site.
Artificial Intelligence
House Speaker-designate Sam Garrison, R-Fleming Island, is predicting tense debate on artificial intelligence and data center regulations during this session.
He referenced legislation filed by Rep. Philip Griffitts Jr., R-Panama City Beach, that gives more local government control on development of data centers.
In his address, DeSantis continued his recent warnings on what he sees as economic and social concerns related A.I. advancement. The governor has pushed against policy from President Donald Trump’s admiration in an effort to regulate the technology at the state level.
“But this technology threatens to upend key parts of our economy is ways that can leave many Americans out of work,” DeSantis said. “And with consumers footing the bill for the costs over power-intensive data centers, it presents real perils for children and parents, as A.I. chatbots have already been linked to teen suicides.”
Dems’ ‘Affordability Agenda’
In an address responding to the governor’s speech, Senate Minority Leader Lori Berman said Democrats in Tallahassee want to stop what they see as wasteful spending by the DeSantis administration.
She specifically cited the governor’s flying migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard and what Democrats call purely political appointments to positions in higher ed and beyond.
Berman said Senate Democrats will push legislation to address property insurance affordability, consumer protections, and cutting taxes.
For one, Jacksonville Democratic Sen. Tracie Davis has filed SB 1240, which creates new protections for property insurance holders.
The bill would give a 10-day right to cancel policies; mandates that companies provide plain-language disclosures when denying coverage; reduces the mandatory time frame for insurance to pay or deny claims to 30 days; and would create financial penalties and interest accruals for late payments. The legislation would also standardize the claim processes.
DeSantis said Monday that policyholders of state-funded Citizens Property Insurance will see a 10% reduction in their annual rates this year. Democrats say that’s not enough after record increases in the last several years.
Sen. Davis has also filed SB 756, which would increase the amount of time that affordable-designated apartments must say in the category from 30 to 50 years.
According to Berman, the party’s strategy is counter to DeSantis’s push to cut property taxes, which she says would “cripple” cities and counties that rely on that revenue to fund essential services.
“Over the last few years, everything has gotten more expensive, from the cost of groceries to the cost of housing. Property insurance has grown to nearly double the average national cost. This affects everyone, whether you own your home or rent it,” she said. “Nearly 1 million households in Florida are now struggling to afford their housing costs. And we all know we can’t grow our economy if people can’t afford to live here.”
In addition to housing affordability, Davis also filed SB 1246 to declare a shortage of health science professionals in addition to nurses. The bill would qualify certain companies and organizations for job-creation incentives for health science jobs.
Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, has filed HB 987 to recreate the Florida Department of Labor for worker protections and HB 845 to study how to create and implement a child care assistance program.
Chris Hand, an attorney and political observer who served as former Mayor Alvin Brown’s chief of staff, said on WJCT News 89.9’s First Coast Connect last week that Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate make it unlikely for most of the Democrats’ proposals to be adopted.
“I think they’re going to use the session to try to raise public attention about some of these issues,” Hand said. “That matters for potentially long-term legislative development but also for the November elections.”
