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HB 687 2026
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hb687-00
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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
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to government waste and misconduct; 2
requiring the Office of Program Policy Analysis and 3
Government Accountability, the Auditor General, and 4
the Government Efficiency Task Force to prepare a 5
specified report; requiring that specified subjects be 6
investigated and evaluated, and certain funds 7
identified, as part of the report; requiring that the 8
report be submitted to specified parties; requiring 9
the Attorney General to take certain actions to 10
recover specified funds; requiring such recovered 11
funds be used for a certain purpose; requiring that 12
specified funds be transferred and used for a certain 13
purpose; creating s. 409.1466, F.S.; creating the 14
Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program within the 15
Department of Commerce for a certain purpose; 16
requiring that the program be funded in a specified 17
manner; defining the term "waste"; granting certain 18
state funds to people and households that received the 19
federal Earned Income Tax Credit and meet certain 20
criteria; specifying the calculation of the rebate and 21
procedures for disbursing the funds within a certain 22
timeframe; requiring the department to submit to the 23
Governor, the Cabinet, and the Legislature a certain 24
report by a specified date; prohibiting receipt of the 25
HB 687 2026
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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
rebate from being used in certain program eligibility 26
determinations; authorizing the department to adopt 27
emergency rules; providing applicability; providing an 28
effective date. 29
30
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 31
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Section 1. (1) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and 33
Government Accountability, the Auditor General, and the 34
Government Efficiency Task Force shall work together to prepare 35
a report identifying fraud, waste, abuse of authority, 36
malfeasance, mismanagement, and misconduct in state government. 37
The report shall include an investigation and evaluation of all 38
state spending, including, but not limited to: 39
(a) All spending related to Executive Order 23-03, 40
including contracts related to the South Florida Detention 41
Facility, also known as "Alligator Alcatraz"; funds related to 42
deploying Florida law enforcement to Texas; and funds used for 43
migrant deportation flights, self-deportation flights, and the 44
Unauthorized Alien Transport Program. 45
(b) All spending by the Department of Children and 46
Families, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Agency for 47
Persons with Disabilities, the Department of Elderly Affairs, 48
the Department of Veterans' Affairs, the Statewide Guardian ad 49
Litem Office, CareerSource Florida, Inc., the Agency for Health 50
HB 687 2026
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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
Care Administration, and the Division of Emergency Management 51
relating to the "Hope Florida - A Path to Prosperity" initiative 52
launched in 2021 and subsequent Hope Florida program 53
initiatives, including, but not limited to, the Hope Florida 54
Foundation, Hope Florida hotline, Hope Florida website and 55
online CarePortal, Hope Florida partner network, and Hope 56
Florida Fund. The report must also identify the number of full-57
time employees in state agencies currently working on Hope 58
Florida functions, the extent to which full-time employees were 59
repurposed for Hope Florida functions, and any contracts for 60
goods or services entered into by state agencies to further the 61
mission of Hope Florida. 62
(c) Spending on contracts for litigation costs and private 63
attorney services. 64
(d) Efforts related to the Florida Accountability and 65
Fiscal Oversight Office within the Department of Financial 66
Services and the Department of Government Efficiency established 67
in Executive Order 25-44 and whether such efforts are 68
duplicative of the existing Government Efficiency Task Force. 69
(e) Spending related to Florida Department of 70
Transportation Engineering and Operations Memorandum 25-01. 71
(f) Spending related to the Canadian Prescription Drug 72
Importation Program established under s. 381.02035, Florida 73
Statutes. 74
(g) Spending related to the use of ivermectin in treating 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
cancer. 76
(h) Programs and tracking tools related to books and 77
educational materials which are duplicative of previous methods. 78
(i) The assessment required by s. 1001.03(19)(b), Florida 79
Statutes, including an evaluation of the assessment's response 80
rate, accuracy, and whether the information from the assessment 81
could be gathered through other existing research. 82
(j) New College of Florida's per-student spending as 83
compared to other state colleges and universities. 84
(k) Spending related to Step Up For Students-Florida, Inc. 85
(l) The acquisition of approximately 4 acres in Okaloosa 86
County from Pointe Mezzanine, LLC and Pointe Resort, LLC, 87
pursuant to section 174 of chapter 2025-198, Laws of Florida. 88
(m) Spending related to proposed state constitutional 89
amendments 3 and 4 that were on the ballot in 2024, including: 90
1. Public service announcements, advertisements, or other 91
public information messaging pertaining to recreational cannabis 92
use, abortion access, or other subject matter relevant to those 93
amendments. 94
2. Legal costs incurred defending such public service 95
announcements, advertisements, or other public information 96
messaging. 97
3. Legal costs incurred related to cease and desist 98
letters sent to television stations and threatened prosecution. 99
(2) The report required under subsection (1) shall 100
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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
identify: 101
(a) Spent funds lost to fraud, waste, malfeasance, 102
mismanagement, or misconduct. 103
(b) Unspent funds at risk of being lost to fraud, waste, 104
malfeasance, mismanagement, or misconduct. 105
(3) The report shall be submitted to the Governor, the 106
President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of 107
Representatives, and the Attorney General. 108
(4) The Attorney General shall pursue legal remedies to 109
recover any funds identified in paragraph (2)(a). Any such 110
recovered funds shall be transferred to the General Revenue Fund 111
to be used to fund the Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program 112
established in s. 409.1466, Florida Statutes. 113
(5) The funds identified in paragraph (2)(b) shall be 114
immediately transferred to the General Revenue Fund to be used 115
to fund the Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program established in 116
s. 409.1466, Florida Statutes. 117
Section 2. Section 409.1466, Florida Statutes, is created 118
to read: 119
409.1466 The Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program.— 120
(1) The Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program is created 121
within the Department of Commerce to provide low- or moderate-122
income residents relief on sales taxes, fuel taxes, property 123
taxes, or other taxes and fees such residents pay in this state 124
during the year, consistent with the goals of the federal Earned 125
HB 687 2026
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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
Income Tax Credit. The program shall be funded exclusively with 126
moneys identified as being at risk of being lost to waste or 127
recovered after being lost to waste. As used in this subsection, 128
the term "waste" includes fraud, malfeasance, mismanagement, and 129
misconduct. 130
(2) Each person or household that qualifies for and 131
receives the federal Earned Income Tax Credit in a specific year 132
may receive funds from the state if the person or household does 133
all of the following: 134
(a) Maintains a Florida residence on the federal income 135
tax return during the tax year in which the person or household 136
is applying for the Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program. 137
(b) Applies to the Department of Commerce, using a form 138
developed by the Department of Commerce, no later than June 30 139
of the year in which the federal Earned Income Tax Credit was 140
received. 141
(c) Provides the Department of Commerce with documentation 142
verifying the receipt and specific amount of the federal Earned 143
Income Tax Credit. 144
(3) Within 30 days after receiving a completed application 145
and verifying the information required under subsection (2), the 146
Department of Commerce shall issue a check or remit funds using 147
direct deposit to the person or household in an amount equal to 148
20 percent of the amount of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit 149
that the person or household received. 150
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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
(4) The Department of Commerce shall prepare and submit a 151
report by December 31, 2027, to the Governor and Cabinet, the 152
President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of 153
Representatives, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the 154
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives which addresses 155
the feasibility of creating and implementing an automatic 156
Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program using data provided by the 157
Internal Revenue Service or another federal agency so that a 158
person or household may receive the funds from the state without 159
having to complete an annual application and provide 160
documentation under subsection (2). 161
(a) If the Department of Commerce determines that an 162
automatic program is not feasible, the report must identify 163
specific barriers to the creation of an automatic program and 164
provide proposed solutions to remove the barriers. 165
(b) If the Department of Commerce determines that an 166
automatic program is feasible, the report must include a 167
legislative proposal to implement the automatic program. 168
(5) Receipt of a rebate under this section may not be used 169
to determine a person's eligibility for Medicaid, Florida 170
Kidcare, cash assistance, or the Supplemental Nutrition 171
Assistance Program established under 7 U.S.C. ss. 2011 et seq. 172
Section 3. (1) The Department of Commerce is authorized, 173
and all conditions are deemed to be met, to adopt emergency 174
rules pursuant to s. 120.54(4), Florida Statutes, for the 175
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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
purpose of implementing s. 409.1466, Florida Statutes. 176
(2) Notwithstanding any other law, emergency rules adopted 177
pursuant to subsection (1) are effective for 6 months after 178
adoption and may be renewed during the pendency of procedures to 179
adopt permanent rules addressing the subject of the emergency 180
rules. 181
Section 4. This act applies to the federal Earned Income 182
Tax Credit granted beginning on or after January 1, 2027. 183
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 184