Senate Bill 780 (2026) — Government waste and misconduct
SB 780
Florida Bills
Florida Senate - 2026 SB 780 By Senator Berman 26-00504A-26 2026780__ Page 1 of 7 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to government waste and misconduct; 2 requiring the Office of Program Policy Analysis and 3 Government Accountability, the Auditor General, and 4 the Government Efficiency Task Force to prepare a 5 specified report; requiring that the report include an 6 investigation and evaluation of all state spending; 7 requiring that the report be submitted to specified 8 parties; requiring the Attorney General to take 9 certain actions to recover specified funds; requiring 10 that such recovered funds be transferred to the 11 General Revenue Fund and used for a certain purpose; 12 creating s. 409.1466, F.S.; creating the Working 13 Floridians Tax Rebate Program within the Department of 14 Commerce for a certain purpose; requiring that the 15 program be funded in a specified manner; defining the 16 term “waste”; granting certain state funds to people 17 and households that received the federal Earned Income 18 Tax Credit and meet certain criteria; requiring the 19 department to calculate the rebate and disburse funds 20 within a specified timeframe; requiring the department 21 to submit to the Governor, the Cabinet, and the 22 Legislature a certain report by a specified date; 23 prohibiting receipt of the rebate from being used in 24 certain program eligibility determinations; 25 authorizing the department to adopt emergency rules; 26 providing applicability; providing an effective date. 27 28 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 29
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Section 1.
(1) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and 31 Government Accountability, the Auditor General, and the 32 Government Efficiency Task Force shall work together to prepare 33 a report identifying fraud, waste, abuse of authority, 34 malfeasance, mismanagement, and misconduct in state government. 35 The report must include an investigation and evaluation of all 36 state spending, including, but not limited to: 37 (
a) Spending related to Executive Order 23-03, including 38 contracts related to the South Florida Detention Facility, also 39 known as “Alligator Alcatraz”; funds related to deploying 40 Florida law enforcement to Texas; and funds used for migrant 41 deportation flights, self-deportation flights, and the 42 Unauthorized Alien Transport Program. 43 (
b) Spending by the Department of Children and Families, 44 the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Agency for Persons with 45 Disabilities, the Department of Elderly Affairs, the Department 46 of Veterans’ Affairs, the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office, 47 CareerSource Florida, Inc., the Agency for Health Care 48 Administration, and the Division of Emergency Management, 49 related to the “Hope Florida: A Path to Prosperity” initiative 50 launched in 2021, and subsequent Hope Florida program 51 initiatives, including, but not limited to, the Hope Florida 52 Foundation, Inc., the Hope Florida hotline, the Hope Florida 53 website and online “CarePortal,” the Hope Florida Network, and 54 the Hope Florida Fund.
The report must also identify the number 55 of full-time equivalent employees in state agencies who are 56 currently working on Hope Florida functions, the extent to which 57 preexisting full-time equivalent employees were repurposed to 58
Florida Senate - 2026 SB 780 26-00504A-26 2026780__ Page 3 of 7 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. work for Hope Florida functions, and all contracts for goods or 59 services entered into by state agencies to further the Hope 60 Florida mission. 61 (
c) Spending on contracts for litigation costs and private 62 attorney services. 63 (
d) Efforts related to the Florida Accountability and 64 Fiscal Oversight Office within the Department of Financial 65 Services and the Department of Government Efficiency established 66 in Executive Order 25-44 and whether such efforts are 67 duplicative of the existing Government Efficiency Task Force. 68 (
e) Spending related to Florida Department of 69 Transportation Engineering and Operations Memorandum 25-01. 70 (
f) Spending related to the Canadian Prescription Drug 71 Importation Program established under s. 381.02035, Florida 72 Statutes. 73 (
g) Spending related to the use of ivermectin in treating 74 cancer. 75 (
h) Programs and tracking tools related to books and 76 educational materials which are duplicative of previous methods. 77 (
i) The assessment required by s. 1001.03(19)(b), Florida 78 Statutes, including an evaluation of the assessment’s response 79 rate, accuracy, and whether the information from the assessment 80 could be gathered through other existing research. 81 (
j) New College of Florida’s per-student spending as 82 compared to other state colleges and universities. 83 (
k) Spending related to Step Up For Students-Florida, Inc. 84 (
l) The acquisition of approximately 4 acres in Okaloosa 85 County from Pointe Mezzanine, LLC, and Pointe Resort, LLC, 86 pursuant to s. 174,
chapter 2025-198, Laws of Florida. 87
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m) Spending related to proposed Amendments 3 and 4 to the 88 State Constitution from the 2024 general election, on all of the 89 following: 90 1. Public service announcements, advertisements, or other 91 public information messaging pertaining to recreational cannabis 92 use, abortion access, or other subject matter relevant to 93 proposed Amendments 3 and 4. 94 2. Legal costs incurred defending such public service 95 announcements, advertisements, or other public information 96 messaging. 97 3. Legal costs incurred related to cease and desist letters 98 sent to television stations and threatened prosecution. 99
(2) The report required under subsection (1) must identify: 100 (
a) Spent funds lost to fraud, waste, malfeasance, 101 mismanagement, or misconduct. 102 (
b) Unspent funds at risk of being lost to fraud, waste, 103 malfeasance, mismanagement, or misconduct. 104
(3) The report must be submitted to the Governor, the 105 President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of 106 Representatives, and the Attorney General. 107
(4) The Attorney General shall pursue legal remedies to 108 recover any funds identified in paragraph (2)(a). Any such 109 recovered funds shall be transferred to the General Revenue Fund 110 to be used to fund the Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program 111 established in s. 409.1466, Florida Statutes. 112
(5) The funds identified in paragraph (2)(
b) shall be 113 immediately transferred to the General Revenue Fund to be used 114 to fund the Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program established in 115 s. 409.1466, Florida Statutes. 116
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Section
Section 409.1466, Florida Statutes, is created 117 to read: 118 409.1466 The Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program.— 119
(1) The Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program is created 120 within the Department of Commerce to provide low- or moderate-121 income residents relief on sales taxes, fuel taxes, property 122 taxes, or other taxes and fees such residents pay in this state 123 during the year, consistent with the goals of the federal Earned 124 Income Tax Credit. The program shall be funded exclusively with 125 moneys identified as being at risk of being lost to waste or 126 recovered after being lost to waste. As used in this subsection, 127 the term “waste” includes fraud, malfeasance, mismanagement, and 128 misconduct. 129
(2) Each person or household that qualifies for and 130 receives the federal Earned Income Tax Credit in a specific year 131 may receive funds from the state if the person or household does 132 all of the following: 133 (
a) Maintains a Florida residence on the federal income tax 134 return during the tax year in which the person or household is 135 applying for the Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program. 136 (
b) Applies to the Department of Commerce, using a form 137 developed by the Department of Commerce, no later than June 30 138 of the year in which the federal Earned Income Tax Credit was 139 received. 140 (
c) Provides the Department of Commerce with documentation 141 verifying the receipt and specific amount of the federal Earned 142 Income Tax Credit. 143
(3) Within 30 days after receiving a completed application 144 and verifying the information required under subsection (2), the 145
Florida Senate - 2026 SB 780 26-00504A-26 2026780__ Page 6 of 7 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Department of Commerce shall issue a check or remit funds using 146 direct deposit to the person or household in an amount equal to 147 20 percent of the amount of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit 148 that the person or household received. 149
(4) The Department of Commerce shall prepare and submit a 150 report by December 31, 2027, to the Governor, the Cabinet, the 151 President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of 152 Representatives, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the 153 Minority Leader of the House of Representatives which addresses 154 the feasibility of creating and implementing an automatic 155 Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program using data provided by the 156 Internal Revenue Service or another federal agency so that a 157 person or household may receive the funds from the state without 158 having to complete an annual application and provide 159 documentation under subsection (2). 160 (
a) If the Department of Commerce determines that an 161 automatic program is not feasible, the report must identify 162 specific barriers to the creation of an automatic program and 163 provide proposed solutions to remove the barriers. 164 (
b) If the Department of Commerce determines that an 165 automatic program is feasible, the report must include a 166 legislative proposal to implement the automatic program. 167
(5) Receipt of a rebate under this
section may not be used 168 to determine a person’s eligibility for Medicaid, Florida 169 Kidcare, cash assistance, or the Supplemental Nutrition 170 Assistance Program established under 7 U.S.C. ss. 2011 et seq. 171
Section 3.
(1) The Department of Commerce is authorized, 172 and all conditions are deemed to be met, to adopt emergency 173 rules pursuant to s. 120.54(4), Florida Statutes, for the 174
Florida Senate - 2026 SB 780 26-00504A-26 2026780__ Page 7 of 7 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. purpose of implementing s. 409.1466, Florida Statutes. 175
(2) Notwithstanding any other law, emergency rules adopted 176 pursuant to subsection (1) are effective for 6 months after 177 adoption and may be renewed during the pendency of procedures to 178 adopt permanent rules addressing the subject of the emergency 179 rules. 180