2016 Legislative Session Overview

Dear Members,

The 2016 Legislative Session concluded at 6:45pm Friday, March 11, 2016. Capital blogger Peter Schorsch captured the overall spirit of the session in his blog post over the weekend:

“[T] hings worked out ok. Not great. Not particularly memorable. But it could have been worse. The highlight of the 2016 session has to be the budget it produced, which is expected to pass with bipartisan support.

...The final grade for the 2016 Legislative Session: B-minus, just the kind of good enough grade for everyone to enjoy the Spring Break that begins next week.”

The 2016-2017 Fiscal Year Budget passed with only one dissenting vote between the two chambers: 119-1 in the House and 40-0 in the Senate. The full budget reflected a spending plan of $82.3 billion and begins July 1, 2016.

Considering the rancor from the 2015 Legislative Session, coupled with the various redistricting special sessions, the 2016 Legislative Session was a vast improvement. Legislators will head home and focus on the Presidential Primary scheduled for this Tuesday and their own political plans moving forward. They will also await Governor Scott’s review of their work as the veto period moves into high gear.

I will be closely monitoring this final process for bills to become law (or not!) and will report anything of note to you. Fund Assembly is an excellent way for you to get the full story on any new statutory provisions of particular interest to real property attorneys, so make sure to register!

Thank you for your continued support of The Fund.

Best Regards,

Melissa Jay Murphy
Senior Vice President and
General Counsel