Summary of Tourist Development-Related Bills Under Consideration in 2026 Florida Legislative Session
Listed below are the bills and potential legislation in process during Florida’s FY 2026 Regular Legislative Session that impact tourist development taxes and usage, as outlined by Florida Statute 125.0104. The status and content of these initiatives change weekly; a link to the actual bill is provided to to see full detail and monitor changes. The 2026 session began on Jan. 13 and ends Friday, March 13.
LEGISLATION
TDT Expansion
SB 0454 Tourist Development Taxes - Deleting a provision requiring that a specified percentage of all tourist development tax revenues be used to promote and advertise tourism, etc. Effective July 1, 2026 Identical to HB 6007
SB 0456 – Tourist Development Tax (TDT Expansion) - Tourist Development Tax; Authorizing the use of proceeds from the tourist development tax to fund public safety improvements, affordable housing, and workforce housing, etc. Effective July 1, 2026
SB 0458 – Tourist Development Tax (TDT Expansion) - Revising the percentage of tourist development tax revenues that must be spent to promote and advertise tourism in order for any tourist development tax revenues to be used for a specified purpose, etc. Effective July 1, 2026
HB 6007 Tourist Development Taxes - Removes provision requiring specified percentage of all tourist development tax revenues to be used to promote & advertise tourism. Identical to SB 456
Large Scale DMOs
SB 0446 – Large-Scale County Destination Marketing Organizations - Large-scale County Destination Marketing Organizations; Defining the term “large-scale county destination marketing organization”; requiring large-scale county destination marketing organizations to register with the Department of State; requiring a one-to-one match of private to public contributions to fund large-scale county destination marketing organizations, etc. Effective July 1, 2026
Rental & Vacation Rental Pool Safety
A few bills have been filed relating to pool safety at rental houses, both long term and short term.
SB 658 Water Safety Requirements for the Rental of Residential Property - Requiring a landlord to equip certain rental properties with specified water safety features; requiring a public lodging establishment licensed as a vacation rental to equip certain rental units with specified water safety features, etc. Effective July 1, 2026. Related to HB 79
HB 79 Water Safety Requirements for the Rental of Residential Property - Requires that certain dwelling units, premises, & residential property be equipped with specified pool safety requirements; provides criminal penalty. Effective July 1, 2026. Related to SB 658
SB 608 Vacation Rentals - Requiring applicants or licensees seeking to obtain or renew a license to operate a vacation rental to install a pool safety feature if a pool is located on the vacation rental property; authorizing the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to suspend or revoke a license and fine the licensee if a vacation rental is not in compliance, etc. Effective July 1, 2026
FY 2026-27 BUDGET
Passage of a State budget bill is technically the only requirement of the State Legislative Session each year and it always impacts the political dynamics between the Chambers and the Governor’s Office.
All reports from Florida’s economists predict that the Legislature will have a small budget surplus to work with when they start crafting the 2026 to 2027 General Appropriations Act. However, projections also show a deficit is likely in the very near future if recurring spending continues. This statistic, along with the continued attention to cutting government waste, has led to many public statements from Legislative leaders regarding a smaller budget than previous years.
The Governor is required to make budget recommendations to the Legislature, which can be found here - “Floridians First” Budget - and totals $117.36 billion. The bill again includes $80 million for VISIT FLORIDA, the State’s official destination marketing organization.