HB0273 • 2026

Special District Funding

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: State Affairs Committee ; Johnson
Last action: 2026-06-26
Official status: Chapter No. 2026-167
Effective date: 2026-07-01

Plain English Breakdown

The specific criteria for what constitutes sufficient proof of 'financial hardship' are not detailed in the provided text and would depend on agency implementation or other regulations.

Special District Funding and Payment Rules

This law requires state agencies to include rules in their agreements that allow direct invoice payments to eligible rural counties, municipalities, and special districts when they show financial hardship.

What This Bill Does

Requires agency agreements providing state or federal assistance to include a provision allowing the payment of invoices directly to eligible entities for verified work completed under the agreement.
Mandates that agencies expedite payment requests from qualifying rural counties, municipalities, and special districts when they demonstrate financial hardship.
Updates the legal definition of 'rural community' to specifically include independent special districts that provide water and wastewater services within a rural area of opportunity.
States that these direct payments must be exercised only if federal or state laws allow them.

Who It Names or Affects

State agencies managing financial assistance agreements with local governments.
Counties and municipalities located in 'rural communities' or 'rural areas of opportunity'.
Special districts located entirely within those rural counties or municipalities.
Independent special districts that provide water and wastewater services within a rural area of opportunity.

Terms To Know

Rural Community: A county with 75,000 people or fewer; a contiguous county with up to 125,000 people; municipalities or special districts within those counties; certain rural cities with specific economic factors; and independent water/wastewater special districts in rural areas of opportunity.
Rural Area of Opportunity: A geographic area defined by state law (s. 288.0656) that qualifies for specific economic development programs and funding rules.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not require reimbursement to the local entity, but rather allows agencies to pay invoices directly.
Agencies must only use this payment method if federal or state laws allow it; the law cannot override other regulations.
The text requires entities to 'demonstrate financial hardship' but does not list specific proof required for that demonstration.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

625206

Floor amendment H 273 c1 • McClain

House: Concur 3/12/2026

Plain English: This amendment allows state agencies to pay invoices directly to certain rural counties, municipalities, and water/wastewater special districts when they face financial hardship while managing federal or state funding agreements.

State agencies can now include a clause in their contracts that lets them pay bills directly to eligible rural areas instead of waiting for reimbursement processes.
The law requires agencies to speed up payment requests from these specific counties, municipalities, and special districts when they show financial difficulty.
The definition of 'rural community' is updated to include independent special districts that provide water and wastewater services in designated rural opportunity areas.

Direct payments can only happen if federal or state laws, rules, or regulations allow them for the specific situation.
The amendment does not change any other existing federal or state laws regarding how these agreements must be handled.

285203

Floor amendment H 273 c1 • Gantt

House: Failed 3/4/2026

Plain English: This amendment proposes changing the bill's title but does not include enough text in this document to explain what specific changes would be made to special district funding.

The amendment removes lines 24 through 72 from the original bill.

The provided text only shows instructions to remove sections and change the title, but it does not include the new language that would replace them.
Because the replacement text is missing, it is impossible to explain what specific rules or funding changes this amendment intended to create.

Bill History

2026-06-26 The Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives
• Chapter No. 2026-167
2026-06-25 The Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives
• Approved by Governor
2026-06-15 The Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives
• Signed by Officers and presented to Governor
2026-03-12 House
• Added to Senate Message List • Amendment 625206 Concur • CS passed as amended; YEAS 108, NAYS 0 • Ordered engrossed, then enrolled
2026-03-06 Senate
• Withdrawn from Rules -SJ 673 • Placed on Calendar, on 2nd reading • Substituted for CS/CS/SB 214 -SJ 673 • Read 2nd time -SJ 673 • Amendment(s) adopted (625206) -SJ 673 • Read 3rd time -SJ 674 • CS passed as amended; YEAS 34 NAYS 0 -SJ 674
2026-03-06 House
• In Messages
2026-03-04 House
• Read 2nd time • Amendment 285203 Failed • Added to Third Reading Calendar • Read 3rd time • CS passed; YEAS 83, NAYS 28
2026-03-04 Senate
• In Messages • Referred to Rules • Received
2026-02-26 House
• Favorable with CS by State Affairs Committee • Reported out of State Affairs Committee • Laid on Table under Rule 7.18(a) • CS Filed • Bill referred to House Calendar • Bill added to Special Order Calendar (3/4/2026) • 1st Reading (Committee Substitute 1)
2026-02-24 House
• PCS added to State Affairs Committee agenda
2026-01-21 House
• Favorable by Housing, Agriculture & Tourism Subcommittee • Reported out of Housing, Agriculture & Tourism Subcommittee • Now in State Affairs Committee
2026-01-16 House
• Added to Housing, Agriculture & Tourism Subcommittee agenda
2026-01-14 House
• Favorable by Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee • Reported out of Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee • Now in Housing, Agriculture & Tourism Subcommittee
2026-01-13 House
• 1st Reading (Original Filed Version)
2026-01-12 House
• Added to Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee agenda
2025-11-04 House
• Referred to Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee • Referred to Housing, Agriculture & Tourism Subcommittee • Referred to State Affairs Committee • Now in Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee
2025-10-28 House
• Filed

Official Summary Text

Special District Funding; Revising agency agreements that provide state financial assistance to recipients or subrecipients to include specified special districts as an entity to which such agency may provide for the payment of invoices under specified circumstances; providing construction; requiring state agencies to expedite payment requests from certain counties, municipalities, and special districts for a specified purpose, etc.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

ENROLLED
CS/HB 273, Engrossed 1 2026 Legislature

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

1
An act relating to special district funding; amending 2
s. 215.971, F.S.; revising agency agreements that 3
provide state financial assistance to recipients or 4
subrecipients to include specified special districts 5
as an entity to which such agency may provide for the 6
payment of invoices under specified circumstances; 7
providing construction; requiring state agencies to 8
expedite payment requests from certain counties, 9
municipalities, and special districts for a specified 10
purpose; amending s. 288.0656, F.S.; revising the 11
definition of the term "rural community" to include 12
specified special districts; providing an effective 13
date. 14
15
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 16
17
Section 1. Paragraph (h) of subsection (1) of section 18
215.971, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 19
215.971 Agreements funded with federal or state 20
assistance.— 21
(1) An agency agreement that provides state financial 22
assistance to a recipient or subrecipient, as those terms are 23
defined in s. 215.97, or that provides federal financial 24
assistance to a subrecipient, as defined by applicable United 25

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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

States Office of Management and Budget circulars, must include 26
all of the following: 27
(h) If the agency agreement provides federal or state 28
financial assistance to a county or municipality that is a rural 29
community or rural area of opportunity as those terms are 30
defined in s. 288.0656(2) or a special district located entirely 31
within such county or municipality or an independent special 32
district that provides water and wastewater services within a 33
rural area of opportunity as defined in s. 288.0656(2), a 34
provision allowing the agency to provide for the payment of 35
invoices to such the county, municipality, or special district 36
rural area of opportunity as that term is defined in s. 37
288.0656(2), for verified and eligible performance that has been 38
completed in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth 39
in the agreement. The provision is not intended to require 40
reimbursement to such county, municipality, or special district 41
for invoices paid, but to allow the agency to provide for the 42
payment of invoices due. The agency shall expedite payment 43
requests in order to facilitate the timely payment of invoices 44
received by such county, municipality, or special district. This 45
provision is included to alleviate the financial hardships that 46
such certain rural counties, and municipalities, or special 47
districts encounter when administering agreements, and must be 48
exercised by the agency if when a county, or municipality, or 49
special district located entirely within such county or 50

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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

municipality or an independent special district that provides 51
water and wastewater services within a rural area of 52
opportunity, as defined in s. 288.0656(2), demonstrates 53
financial hardship, to the extent that federal or state law, 54
rule, or other regulation allows such payments. This paragraph 55
may not be construed to alter or limit any other provisions of 56
federal or state law, rule, or other regulation. 57
Section 2. Paragraph (e) of subsection (2) of section 58
288.0656, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 59
288.0656 Rural Economic Development Initiative.— 60
(2) As used in this section, the term: 61
(e) "Rural community" means: 62
1. A county with a population of 75,000 or fewer. 63
2. A county with a population of 125,000 or fewer which is 64
contiguous to a county with a population of 75,000 or fewer. 65
3. A municipality or special district within a county 66
described in subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 2. 67
4. An unincorporated federal enterprise community or an 68
incorporated rural city with a population of 25,000 or fewer and 69
an employment base focused on traditional agricultural or 70
resource-based industries, located in a county not defined as 71
rural, which has at least three or more of the economic distress 72
factors identified in paragraph (c) and verified by the 73
department. 74
5. An independent special district that provides water and 75

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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

wastewater services within a rural area of opportunity. 76
77
For purposes of this paragraph, population shall be determined 78
in accordance with the most recent official estimate pursuant to 79
s. 186.901. 80
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 81