State Rep. Patt Maney’s veterans treatment court bill cleared its final committee hurdle during December committee weeks and now awaits a vote by the full House chamber.
- HB 199, which would realign veterans treatment courts with other problem-solving courts, passed unanimously through each of its referred committees. The bill has a companion measure from Sen. Gaetz.
Maney has filed all seven of his bills for the 2026 legislative session, with all but one Senate companion measure filed. Two other bills made progress during December. HB 227, which would clarify that individuals holding residential leases of 98 years or longer qualify for Florida’s homestead tax exemption, will have two more committee stops before reaching the House floor. HB 351, which seeks to establish concurrent jurisdiction between the State of Florida and U.S. military installations, has one committee stop remaining.
- The remaining four bills are expected to begin moving forward after the legislative session begins Jan. 13.
The House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting, of which Maney is a member, met twice during the December committee weeks. The committee received informational presentations and laid groundwork for potential legislative action but has not taken any substantive action.
The House Justice Budget Subcommittee, chaired by Maney, also met twice and received briefings on vacancy rates for positions in agencies under the subcommittee’s purview. Positional vacancies throughout Florida’s state agencies came under scrutiny last year due to a high number of positions vacant for more than 180 days, with many vacant for over 1,000 days.
The Florida Legislature committed to taking a closer look at these vacancies to ensure funding for each agency is spent appropriately. Progress has been made but work remains, according to Maney’s office.
The December meetings marked the final committee weeks before the holiday break and the start of the 2026 legislative session.
