Legislative Updates

The Florida primary was held on Tuesday, Aug. 20, and individuals across the state headed to the polls to make their voices heard. Read the latest issue of Legislative Update for a breakdown of turnout figures by party, how the primary compared to previous elections and race reviews. It also provides a look ahead to November's election and information on how to support the Florida CPA/PAC.

Hurricane Debby on Monday made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near the city of Steinhatchee in Florida's Big Bend region. The Steinhatchee River near Cross City rose nearly 8 feet as Debby came ashore, and state officials said residents in the area could expect continuing heavy flooding into the next week. The FICPA would like to extend its heartfelt sympathies to the individuals, families and businesses impacted by this storm.

With July coming to an end and August on approach, Florida's primary election, a new school year and the start of the college football season are all on the horizon

All bills passed by the Legislature during the 2024 Session have now been acted on by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Although Session ended more than four months ago, it took until the last week of June for all legislation to make its way to the governor’s desk and for him to make final decisions on the fate of those bills. This officially signals the end of the legislative cycle, with all eyes now on the 2024 elections.

The FICPA Governmental Affairs Team is happy to welcome you back to the Legislative Update. After a short hiatus, the team returns to our regular bi-weekly update. We would like to say THANK YOU to all of those who joined us at Sapphire Falls Resort for MEGA 2024.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed HB 5001 – General Appropriation Act, commonly referred to as the state budget, for fiscal year 2024-25.

We are pleased to report that the Florida Board of Accountancy (BOA) this week officially began the rulemaking process for the FICPA’s priority bill, HB 813 by Rep. Mike Caruso, creating a retired CPA status in statue.

Some legislative activities took a bit of a back seat this week as strong storms and several tornados did significant damage to Tallahassee and the surrounding areas, shifting the focus to storm recovery.

HR 5863 by Congressman Greg Stuebe (R-FL) provides key disaster relief to individuals impacted by Hurricane Ian. The bill resolves issues around tax rules relating to personal losses during declared disasters.

Florida's 2024 tax package includes the FICPA-priority language for automatic tax extensions when a state of emergency has been declared within five days of a deadline.

With legislators back in their respective districts, the FICPA Governmental Affairs team is transitioning into more post-Session activities with an eye towards the fast-approaching 2024 campaign season.

“We want to thank Gov. DeSantis for signing this great bill, CPA Lawmakers Rep. Caruso and Sen. Gruters for sponsoring it, and the entire Legislature for supporting the profession. This is a proud day in our history,” FICPA President & CEO Shelly Weir said.

In the final week, the Legislature worked to hammer out the final budget and passed the last bills on the House and Senate Floors. The Budget Conference process wrapped up on Monday evening, March 4, allowing the budget to be laid on the members’ desks on Tuesday, March 5 at 11:48 am. This allowed the constitutionally required 72-hour cooling off period to begin and the Session to end on time.

Today, the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA) commemorated the passage of its priority legislation, CS/House Bill 813 – Certified Public Accountants by Rep. Mike Caruso (SB 954 by Sen. Joe Gruters). This bill creates a new “retired CPA” license status in Florida statute, which is an extremely meaningful change for CPAs in the state of Florida. The legislation will now be sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis for consideration to be signed into law.

At the end of Week 8, the 2024 Legislative Session finale is near, but there is still much work to be done – and brief time to do it. As the work on legislation has concluded, the focus turned to passing bills on the House and Senate Floor and completing the state budget.

By Week 7, for many bills that have not yet cleared all committees or passed one or both Chambers, time is of the essence. As final agenda notices were made public late last week and early this week, advocates with legislation still up for consideration by the last committee of reference either felt relieved or were disappointed.

With the second half of Florida's 2024 Legislative Session now underway, the Legislature mainly focuses on working to refine bills for final consideration. Committee agendas were packed to the brim this week with proposed legislation during the scheduled meetings, as the Legislature continues to move forward policy items. The Legislature will continue to hear legislation until the latter half of next week. After that, the full committees will slowly stop meeting and the legislative members will spend most of their time on the Chamber Floor for final passage of bills.

This week marked the official halfway point of the 2024 Legislative Session. Day 30 of 60 passed without much fanfare outside the halls of the Capitol, but this milestone marks a significant point in the life of the legislative process and bills being considered.

Week 4 of the Legislative Session was highlighted by continued progress on several key bills, as well as the House and Senate officially presenting their respective 2024 Budget proposals.