2026 Pre-session Legislative Update and Webinar
The Regular Session begins January 13, 2026, and continues through March 13. Interim committees have been meeting with committee week 5 scheduled for December 1-5, 2025.
FPA’s Legislative Task Force chaired by Todd Wilson meets regularly to discuss bills of concern and coordinate action items. Here are the bills we are following.
Expansion of Publicly Accessible Websites; SB 380 by Sen. Trumbull (R. Panama City)
Under current law (s. 50.0311), public notices can be published on “publicly accessible websites” which is defined to be the “county’s official website or other private website designated by the county.” This Senate bill expands “publicly accessible websites” to include not just counties and county-designated private websites but also “special governmental agency websites,” including those of the clerk of the circuit court and the tax collector. Under this bill, governmental notices that could previously be placed on a county’s website can also be placed on a governmental agency’s own or designated private website.
Importantly, the bill includes “notice of sale” foreclosure notices that presumably could be run on the clerk’s website.
The Senate bill has been referred to the following committees: Judiciary; Community Affairs; Rules. It passed the Judiciary Committee unanimously on December 2.
No House bill filed as of this date.
Prohibition on Levying Ad Valorem Taxes on Tangible Personal Property; SB 552 by Sponsor Sen. Bernard (D. Palm Beach); Cosponsor Sen. Yarborough (R. Jax)
Buried in this 51-page bill (lines 162-169) is deletion of newspaper notice of delinquent taxes as part of s. 192.0105 taxpayer rights. This appears to be part of ongoing efforts to allow these ads to be placed on county websites (and tax collector sites under SB 380, above).
The linked SB 550 does not contain this deletion. Senate committee references: Finance and Tax; Appropriations; Rules. No House bill yet.
Self-Storage Unit Notice; SB 98 by Sen. Harrell (R. Stuart), HB 135 by Rep. Smith (R. Winter Springs)
The Senate bill is like those filed in previous years. The bill allows replacement of newspaper notice of self-storage unit liens with notice on a “public website that customarily conducts or advertises personal property auctions.” The Senate bill has been referenced to the following committees: Judiciary (Chair: Clay Yarborough), Regulated Industries (Jennifer Bradley), and Rules (Kathleen Passidomo). It was heard in Judiciary Committee on Nov. 4, passing 8-1, and is now in the Regulated Industries Committee.
The House bill is assigned to the following committees: Civil Justice Sub. (Traci Koster), Commerce (James Buchanen); and Judiciary (Chuck Brannan). The bill has not been heard yet.
We will be opposing these bills and have been reaching out to members asking them to contact their legislators in their readership area.
Take-Down Defamation Bills
We have yet to see any bills requiring publishers to remove articles or statements from the internet like those filed last session. We will be following this closely and will update members with any new developments.