The Florida Legislature is soon in session, and we’d like to think clean water will be atop the 2026 agenda.

We’re not putting money on it, though, so we’ll be watching our lawmakers very closely this session – and we urge you to do the same.

This past week has been the first of several “Committee Weeks,” with Florida Senators and Representatives returning to Tallahassee to lay the groundwork for the coming Legislative session, which begins Jan. 13.

Already bills are being submitted, though nothing particularly relevant to the clean-water cause has been filed — yet.

County legislative delegation meetings are being held — our friends at 1000 Friends of Florida have the list, please plan to attend your local delegation meetings and stump for clean water!

VoteWater expects development will be a big issue again in 2026. Lawmakers will almost certainly propose more rule changes that will make it easier for developers to develop.

We anticipate some bad ideas/bad bills that died late in the 2025 session will be resurrected — for example, the idea of declaring a parcel of farmland surrounded by developed areas as an “agricultural enclave,” which would allow development proposals for that site to skirt the usual public approval process.

Calls to repeal or revise Senate Bill 180, passed last year, will be loud. VoteWater has joined 50 other Florida conservation organizations asking the Legislature to revisit SB 180, which effectively handcuffs local governments and prohibits them from adopting growth—management rules considered more “restrictive” than those in place before recent hurricanes.

Click here to learn more — and to send a message to your legislator asking them to fix SB 180.

VoteWater’s legislative priorities are simple: Rescue the River of Grass. Protect wetlands. Take bold steps to improve water quality by increasing clean-water enforcement, holding government agencies accountable when pollution-reduction goals aren’t met and more.

And we’ll stand fast for smarter, more controlled development, and against more reckless proposals giving developers carte blanche.

There will be many chances for you to weigh in this session, on bad and (hopefully) good legislation. We’ll keep you up to speed — and help make your voices heard in Tallahassee.