SB 96 Florida Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Veterans Dental Care Grant Program

SB 96 establishes a Veterans Dental Care Grant Program within Florida's Department of Veterans’ Affairs to provide oral health care to eligible veterans. It directly affects Florida veterans with household incomes at or below 400% of the federal poverty level. The bill appropriates $500,000 from the General Revenue Fund for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to fund this program, which will cover dental services for qualifying veterans. The program becomes effective July 1, 2026, and is administered by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Mar 6, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

S 96 c1 → S 96 c2 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was revised to move from a first draft (c1) to a committee substitute (c2), which significantly altered the bill's administrative handling and funding structure. The most critical change is the removal of a specific $500,000 appropriation for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, meaning the bill now states the program's purpose and effective date without immediately attaching a dedicated funding source in this version. Additionally, the bill's authorship was expanded to include multiple senators and a different primary committee, and the document metadata was updated to reflect the new version number.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding funding was reduced by removing the explicit appropriation language, while the scope of legislative involvement was expanded by adding more sponsors and committees.

FISCAL

Deleted the specific appropriation of $500,000 from the General Revenue Fund for the 2026-2027 fiscal year.

TIMELINE

Updated the bill's version identifier from c1 to c2 and changed the header text to reflect the new committee structure.

TECHNICAL

Added two new senators (Rouson and Jones) to the list of bill sponsors and changed the primary committee from Military and Veterans Affairs to Appropriations.

Updated the document timestamp and bill code numbers to reflect the new committee substitute version.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

Favorable by- Appropriations; YEAS 17 NAYS 1

upper

Feb 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Appropriations, 02/12/26, 9:00 am, 412 Knott Building

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

Pending reference review under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)

upper

Feb 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

CS/CS by Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services; YEAS 7 NAYS 0

upper

Jan 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, 02/04/26, 1:00 pm, 412 Knott Building

upper

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

upper

Nov 6, 2025

Upper · Passed

Now in Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services

upper

Nov 6, 2025

Upper · Passed

Remaining references corrected to Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services; Appropriations

upper

Nov 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

Pending reference review under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)

upper

Oct 27, 2025

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security, 11/04/25, 10:00 am, 301 Senate Building

upper

Oct 13, 2025

Committee

Referred to Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security; Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services; Fiscal Policy

upper

1 primary · 4 co-sponsors