Nearly $950 Million for Florida Homeownership programs July 1, 2024

Reprinted

Written by: Andy Gonzalez, Vice President of Public Policy
Florida Realtors®

Public Policy Update

June 14, 2024

Hello everyone. This week was a big one for our 2024 legislative priorities as Gov. DeSantis signed the 2024-2025 fiscal year budget. The $116.5 billion budget features significant funding for the Hometown Heroes Housing Program, the My Safe Florida Home Program, state and local government affordable housing programs, and a large investment in water quality and environmental projects throughout the state. 

All eyes had been watching the budget (HB 5001) to see when it might get sent his way and sure enough, when it final did the governor acted quickly. The bill signing event took place in Tampa on Wednesday and the governor spent more than 40 minutes highlighting some of the key initiatives and programs that are in the budget. You can watch his full press conference here if you are interested.

The governor also sent out a press release that includes what he highlighted during the press conference as well as some other key budget items. You can read his full summary on the budget here which also contains the list of vetoed projects that amounted to nearly $950 million. Thankfully, none of the vetoes impacted our priorities.

Here is a quick look at the overall budget numbers as they relate to our priorities. For a more detailed look at the numbers, check out this Florida Realtors news article. Unless stated otherwise, the budget will become effective on July 1, 2024.

• $100 million for the Hometown Heroes Housing Program.
• $200 million for the My Safe Florida Home Program.
• $30 million for the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program.
• $408 million for state and local government affordable housing programs. 
• $1.2 billion for water quality and environmental projects to keep Florida clean and beautiful.   
• $500,000 to help prevent unlicensed real estate activity.
• $500,000 to evaluate the impact of lookback periods. 

Please reach out to us at publicpolicy@floridarealtors.org with any questions you may have.

Sincerely,

Andy Gonzalez
Vice President of Public Policy
Florida Realtors®