Florida SB 1572: Department of Financial Services

Bill Text

1572 
Department of Financial Services 
2026-01-09T05:24:28Z 
Establishing the Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight within the Department of Financial Services; requiring local governments to notify the agency after authorizing specified referenda; deleting a requirement that a specified hotline be operated for a certain amount of time each day; requiring specified employees to take a certain training annually; requiring that certain employees who report information to the Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight be afforded the same protection as whistle-blowers, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1572 

 By Senator DiCeglie 

 18-00780D-26 20261572__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to the Department of Financial 
 3 Services; creating s. 17.324, F.S.; defining terms; 
 4 establishing the Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight 
 5 within the Department of Financial Services; providing 
 6 the purpose and duties of the agency; requiring local 
 7 governments to notify the agency after authorizing 
 8 specified referenda; requiring the agency to conduct 
 9 an audit; authorizing the agency to request certain 
 10 information; providing penalties for noncompliance 
 11 with such request; requiring certain funds to be 
 12 deposited in a specified trust fund; authorizing the 
 13 agency to waive fines in certain circumstances; 
 14 providing that certain actions may be challenged in a 
 15 specified manner; authorizing the agency to report 
 16 certain evidence to specified parties; authorizing the 
 17 Florida Commission on Ethics to make certain 
 18 recommendations; authorizing the department to create 
 19 a certain analysis using specified information; 
 20 requiring that such analysis be posted in a specified 
 21 manner to certain parties; authorizing the department 
 22 to adopt rules; amending s. 17.325, F.S.; deleting a 
 23 requirement that a specified hotline be operated for a 
 24 certain amount of time each day; deleting a 
 25 requirement that the hotline be advertised in a 
 26 specified manner; creating s. 112.31424, F.S.; 
 27 defining terms; requiring specified employees to take 
 28 a certain training annually; requiring the first 
 29 training to be completed by a specified deadline; 
 30 requiring that certain employees who report 
 31 information to the Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight 
 32 be afforded the same protection as whistle-blowers; 
 33 providing construction; prohibiting agencies from 
 34 executing certain documents containing specified 
 35 provisions; providing that such documents are void; 
 36 requiring local governments to submit a certain report 
 37 to the department by a specified date; requiring the 
 38 department to adopt rules; requiring the department to 
 39 submit information from the reports to certain 
 40 entities by a specified date; amending s. 215.985, 
 41 F.S.; requiring counties to use certain contract 
 42 tracking systems; providing information required to be 
 43 tracked; authorizing the use of an alternate contract 
 44 tracking system in certain circumstances; providing 
 45 that certain provisions may not be enforced until a 
 46 specified event; requiring the Chief Financial Officer 
 47 to make specified changes to the secure contract 
 48 tracking system by a specified date; providing an 
 49 effective date. 
 50 
 51 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 52 
 53 Section 1. Section 17.324, Florida Statutes, is created to 
 54 read: 
 55 17.324 Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight.— 
 56 (1) As used in this section, the term: 
 57 (a) “Agency” has the same meaning as in s. 283.30. 
 58 (b) “Local government” has the same meaning as in s. 
 59 106.113(1). 
 60 (c) “Noncompliant” means, as determined by the Chief 
 61 Financial Officer, failing to respond to a request for 
 62 information, failing to include any requested information, or 
 63 providing incomplete or materially inaccurate information. 
 64 (d) “State funds” means funds provided to a local 
 65 government by the state, state shared revenue, state grants, 
 66 sales tax collected pursuant to chapter 212, and enterprise 
 67 funds as defined in s. 350.81(1); however, it does not include 
 68 local funds derived from local taxes or fees or funds related to 
 69 public safety. 
 70 (2) The Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight is established 
 71 within the department. The purpose of the Florida Agency for 
 72 Fiscal Oversight is to identify and report unnecessary spending 
 73 within any agency or local governments and to provide fiscal 
 74 management and public spending education and training to such 
 75 governments. The Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight shall: 
 76 (a) Develop the mandatory financial ethics training 
 77 required under s. 112.31424(2). The training must include 
 78 instruction on: 
 79 1. Recognizing misuse of public funds. 
 80 2. Reporting financial miscondu