Sen. Mack Bernard

Limitation on the Assessed Value of Property Owned and Used for Commercial Purposes by Small Businesses; Proposing amendments to the State Constitution to limit the assessed value of real property owned and used for commercial purposes by a small business for ad valorem taxation purposes so that such assessed value may not exceed 3 percent or the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower, and to provide an effective date, etc.

Injunctions for Protection; Defining the terms “serious violence by a known person” and “serious bodily injury”; creating a cause of action for an injunction for protection in cases of serious violence by a known person; prohibiting the clerk of the court from assessing a fee for the filing of such injunction for protection; requiring the clerk of the court to electronically transmit copies of specified documents within a certain timeframe after a court issues such injunction for protection; requiring law enforcement officers to accept a certified copy of such injunction for protection from the petitioner and immediately serve it upon a respondent, etc.

Prohibition on Levying Ad Valorem Taxes on Tangible Personal Property; Proposing amendments to the State Constitution to prohibit levying ad valorem taxes on tangible personal property by counties, school districts, and municipalities and to provide an effective date, etc.

Homestead Property Tax Benefits for Long-term Owners; Proposing amendments to the State Constitution to provide that the assessed value of homestead property may not increase after 20 years of ownership and residency, to provide an additional homestead tax exemption equal to 50 percent of the assessed value of property, other than school district levies, for persons who have owned and resided on the property as their permanent residence for 30 years or more, and to provide an effective date, etc.

Homestead Property Exemption for Persons Age 65 or Older; Proposing amendments to the State Constitution to create a total exemption of homestead property from ad valorem taxation, other than school district levies, for persons 65 years of age or older who have owned and maintained the property as their permanent residence for at least 5 years and whose household income does not exceed a certain amount, adjusted annually by the cost-of-living index, and to provide an effective date, etc.

Impact of Perimenopause and Menopause on Women’s Health; Requiring the Department of Health to establish a perimenopause and menopause policy workgroup; requiring the department, in collaboration with others, to develop and make publicly available on its website information relating to perimenopause and menopause, etc.

Local Business Taxes; Repealing provisions relating to local business taxes; authorizing certain counties to continue to impose a business tax; authorizing such counties to revise the definition of the term “merchant” in a specified manner; prohibiting such counties from revising a specified tax rate, etc.

Maddy summarySB 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.

Specific Medical Diagnoses in Child Protective Investigations; Providing an exception to the requirement that the Department of Children and Families immediately forward certain allegations to a law enforcement agency; requiring a child protective investigator to inform the subject of an investigation of a certain duty; requiring Child Protection Teams to consult with a licensed physician or advanced practice registered nurse with specified pediatric experience when evaluating certain reports; authorizing a parent or legal custodian of a child who is the subject of certain orders to request specified medical examinations of the child within a specified timeframe, etc.

Uterine Fibroid Research Database; Deleting a prohibition on the inclusion of personal identifying information in the uterine fibroid research database, etc.