By Dallas Thiesen, FSPA Chief Government Relations Officer
The 2026 Florida Legislative Session adjourned on March 13, 2026, and it is one for the record books. In the 60 days prior to its end, FSPA went toe to toe with the HVAC industry and the manufacturers of copper bonding grid to protect Florida’s swimming pool and spa industry and the Floridians the industry serves. Every week of the nine-week session, there was a knock-down, drag-out fight, and FSPA members stepped up to make phone calls, send emails, and travel to Tallahassee to lobby for the industry and their clients.
For the second year in a row, the HVAC industry attempted to expand its scope of work to include the replacement of swimming pool and spa heat pumps. This was a transparent scope of work grab framed as a consumer-friendly deregulation initiative and FSPA was there to combat these claims and demonstrate that only Florida’s Swimming Pool and Spa Contractors have the training and experience necessary to install swimming pool and spa heat pumps. As a result of FSPA’s efforts, this bill was defeated for a second time.
After FSPA was successful last year in preserving single wire loop equipotential bonding in the 2026 Florida Building Code, a manufacturer of copper bonding grid attempted to have the Florida Legislature overturn the Building Commission’s decision and mandate the use of copper bonding grid in Florida. Again, FSPA’s members stepped up to support the FSPA government relations team and expose this manufacturer-driven attempt to mandate the use of their product. FSPA successfully lobbied and educated legislators about the effectiveness of the single wire method of bonding pools and showed the unnecessary burden that this mandate would place on Florida consumers. FSPA defeated the bonding grid mandate, preserved the use of single wire loop bonding in Florida, and protected the integrity of the Florida Building Code.
On the water safety front, the legislature passed an expansion of the Florida Department of Health swimming lesson voucher program to include children from 1 year of age to 7 years of age (previously limited to 4 years old). The bill limits family eligibility to households with a maximum income of 200% of the federal poverty limit. The program will have to be funded in the budget process; the Governor and Senate have proposed funding the program at $1,000,000, but the program was left out of the House budget proposal. The Florida Senate passed a bill that would have expanded the Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act to short-term and long-term rental properties, requiring a safety device to be installed, but the bill was not passed by the House of Representatives. This bill will likely be refiled next session.
This session was hard fought. The victories that FSPA secured this session are possible because FSPA members are willing to pick up the phone when asked, travel to Tallahassee when needed, and donate to FSPA Political Action Committee (PIPAC).
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