Legislative Update: Florida’s 2025 Legislative Session - A Year of Conflict, Compromise, and Consequence for Engineers

By Jeff Littlejohn, P.E., Legislative Consultant, Adams and Reese, LLP

The 2025 Florida Legislative Session will be remembered as one of the longest and most contentious in recent years.

What began as a regular session on March 4, with the constitutional expectation of wrapping up by May 2, stretched nearly two extra months, finally concluding on June 26. Even before the regular session started, lawmakers convened a special session on Jan. 27 to address a handful of priority issues for the Governor, including immigration enforcement, condominium regulation, agricultural disaster relief, funding for the My Safe Florida Home program, and reforms to the citizen-petition process.

This unusual combination of a January special session and an extended regular session created a busy—and at times chaotic—legislative calendar. The delays were complicated by open disagreements among the House and Senate leaders and the Governor’s office over how to balance competing priorities: tax relief, cost-of-living reductions, and continued investment in Florida’s growing infrastructure and environmental needs.

For engineers and many of the clients we serve, the late resolution to the session was more than just political theater; it was a source of real uncertainty in project pipelines across the state.

A Tighter Budget With Continued Infrastructure Investment

The FY 2025–26 General Appropriations Act came in at approximately $114.8 billion after vetoes, a slight dip from the $116.6 billion budget in FY 2024–25 (including the Governor’s line-item vetoes). Though modest in percentage terms, the reduction was symbolic of the Governor’s emphasis on fiscal restraint, even in the face of continued population growth and demand for new capital projects.

Transportation funding remained a cornerstone of the budget. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) was appropriated about $15.1 billion, compared with $15.5 billion in FY 2024–25. While slightly reduced, this allocation still represents one of the largest shares of the budget, sustaining programs for roads, bridges, seaports, airports, spaceports and workforce development. For engineers engaged in both traditional highway construction and emerging transportation technologies, the sustained focus underscores the central role of mobility in Florida’s growth strategy.

Environmental and water-resource funding also remained strong. Roughly $1.5 billion was directed toward a slew of priorities, including $805 million specifically for Everglades restoration, $550 million for targeted water quality projects, $130 million for land acquisition through the Florida Forever program, $85 million for red tide and blue-green algae response, and $232 million for water-storage construction.

Even with the overall budget trimmed slightly from 2024, the Legislature signaled that water resource protection, coastal resilience and environmental restoration remain bipartisan priorities.

Political Tensions, Practical Impacts

For observers inside the Capitol, the 2025 session was marked by open conflict between both legislative chambers and the executive branch. Disagreements over the size and scope of tax cuts slowed negotiations, with the House and Senate advancing competing visions before arriving at a compromise during the extended session.

For the engineering community, these delays mattered. Infrastructure planning depends on certainty in both funding levels and program direction. Local governments and private contractors alike had to weigh whether to advance projects without final appropriations in place.

The late adoption of the budget means that some grant applications and procurement timelines could be compressed in the months ahead, with engineers expected to help agencies and clients catch up to ensure projects remain on track.

Legislative Highlights For Engineers

Beyond the budget, several bills passed in 2025 that directly touch on engineering practice and project planning.

SB 180 – EMERGENCIES

This legislation updates statewide emergency management requirements, from shelter retrofits to training programs overseen by the Division of Emergency Management. But perhaps its most significant provision is a set of restrictions on local land-use regulations.

Between Aug. 1, 2024, and Oct. 1, 2027, local governments are temporarily barred from adopting new development rules—such as development codes or land-use changes— that are deemed more restrictive. Going forward, a similar one-year freeze applies to any locality within 100 miles of a declared hurricane’s track.

SB 492 – MITIGATION BANKS

This bill standardizes how credits in Florida’s wetland mitigation banking program are released, creating a uniform schedule for all credit releases from banks across the state. It also allows for the use of credits across watershed boundaries when in-area, in-kind credits are not available, applying multipliers based on proximity. Annual reporting requirements are established to track credit supply and demand, with agencies directed to provide the Legislature with a comprehensive statewide assessment.

For engineers working on development projects that require wetland mitigation, these changes introduce both predictability and new options for compliance.

SB 462 AND SB 1662—WIDE-RANGING TRANSPORTATION REFORMS

Lawmakers approved a pair of major transportation reform bills that together amount to one of the most wide-ranging revisions to Florida’s transportation framework in recent years. The intent of these measures is clear: to align state law with rapidly changing transportation technologies and infrastructure needs.

The reforms touch everything from leadership and governance at FDOT, to the legal definitions that govern autonomous vehicles and micromobility devices, to the way seaports, airports and expressways operate.

Some of the changes are highly visible, like FDOT’s new directive to study the long-discussed widening of I-4 through Hillsborough and Polk Counties, or the repeal of Florida’s high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane statute. Others are more structural, such as the creation of a new Florida Transportation Research Institute, expanded reporting requirements on local surtax revenues, and revised oversight roles for the Florida Transportation Commission. Still others involve fine-tuned but significant adjustments to seaport, airport and expressway governance, as well as updated contracting and permitting standards.

The scope of these reforms means that engineers working in nearly every part of the transportation sector will see changes. Whether it’s planning roadway capacity, integrating micromobility into urban corridors, designing airport facilities or evaluating seaport expansion, the standards have shifted.

The new framework reflects the Legislature’s effort to prepare for rapid growth, emerging technologies and Florida’s continued role as a global hub for logistics and mobility.

Looking Ahead To 2026

With the 2025 session finally behind us, attention now turns to the next cycle. The 2026 Regular Session will begin in January, following the state’s even-numbered, early-year pattern. Committee weeks are scheduled to start this fall, creating opportunities for engineers, firms and professional associations to weigh in on funding priorities and policy proposals before bills are formally filed.

For Florida’s engineering community, the lesson of 2025 is clear: legislative dynamics—whether in the form of extended negotiations or sweeping new statutory provisions—directly affect the work of designing, building and maintaining the infrastructure that keeps the state moving forward. Staying engaged early and consistently is the surest way to prepare for what’s next.