Florida SB 700: States of Emergency

Bill Text

700 
States of Emergency 
2025-12-02T08:30:28Z 
Providing that a state of emergency renewed by the Governor expires within a specified timeframe; authorizing the Legislature to extend the state of emergency under specified circumstances; requiring the Governor to immediately issue a certain executive order or proclamation consistent with the Legislature’s concurrent resolution terminating a state of emergency; requiring the Auditor General to update quarterly a specified audit, rather than annually, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 700 

 By Senator Smith 

 17-00192-26 2026700__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to states of emergency; amending s. 
 3 252.36, F.S.; providing that a state of emergency 
 4 renewed by the Governor expires within a specified 
 5 timeframe; authorizing the Legislature to extend the 
 6 state of emergency under specified circumstances; 
 7 providing that such extension is valid for a specified 
 8 timeframe; prohibiting such timeframe from exceeding 
 9 the end of the next regular session; requiring the 
 10 Governor to immediately issue a certain executive 
 11 order or proclamation consistent with the 
 12 Legislature’s concurrent resolution terminating a 
 13 state of emergency; prohibiting the Governor from 
 14 declaring a substantially similar state of emergency 
 15 under specified conditions; amending s. 252.3611, 
 16 F.S.; requiring the Auditor General to update 
 17 quarterly a specified audit, rather than annually; 
 18 providing an effective date. 
 19 
 20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 21 
 22 Section 1. Subsection (2) and paragraph (a) of subsection 
 23 (3) of section 252.36, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 
 24 252.36 Emergency management powers of the Governor.— 
 25 (2) A state of emergency must be declared by executive 
 26 order or proclamation of the Governor if she or he finds an 
 27 emergency has occurred or that the occurrence or the threat 
 28 thereof is imminent. The state of emergency must continue until 
 29 the Governor finds that the threat or danger has been dealt with 
 30 to the extent that the emergency conditions no longer exist and 
 31 she or he terminates the state of emergency by executive order 
 32 or proclamation, but no state of emergency may continue for 
 33 longer than 60 days unless renewed by the Governor, subject to 
 34 the limitations of subsection (3). All executive orders or 
 35 proclamations issued under this section must indicate the nature 
 36 of the emergency, the area or areas threatened, and the 
 37 conditions which brought the emergency about or which make 
 38 possible its termination. An executive order or proclamation 
 39 must be promptly disseminated by means calculated to bring its 
 40 contents to the attention of the general public; and, unless the 
 41 circumstances attendant upon the emergency prevent or impede 
 42 such filing, the order or proclamation must be filed promptly 
 43 with the Department of State, the President of the Senate and 
 44 the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the offices of 
 45 the county commissioners in the counties to which the order or 
 46 proclamation applies. 
 47 (3)(a)1. A state of emergency renewed by the Governor 
 48 expires after 1 year, and any specific order, proclamation, or 
 49 rule thereunder is terminated, unless the Legislature, by a two 
 50 thirds vote of the membership of each house, expressly 
 51 authorizes the extension of the state of emergency. 
 52 2. If the Legislature authorizes a continuance of the state 
 53 of emergency, the Legislature must set the date the state of 
 54 emergency terminates. Such date may not be later than the 
 55 scheduled end of the next regular session. 
 56 3. At any time, the Legislature, by concurrent resolution, 
 57 may terminate a state of emergency or any specific order, 
 58 proclamation, or rule thereunder. Upon such concurrent 
 59 resolution, the Governor shall immediately issue an executive 
 60 order or proclamation consistent with the concurrent resolution. 
 61 4. If the Legislature terminates or allows a state of 
 62 emergency to expire, the Governor may not declare a 
 63 substantially similar state of emergency. 
 64 Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 252.3611, Florida 
 65 Statutes, is amended to read: 
 66 252.3611 Transparency; audits.— 
 67 (3) Once an emergency exceeds 1 year, the Auditor General 
 68 shall conduct a financial audit of all associated expenditures 
 69 and a compliance audit of all associated contracts entered into 
 70 during the declared emergency. The Auditor General shall must 
 71 update the audit quarterly annually until the emergency is 
 72 declared to be ended. 
 73 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.