Sen. Corey Simon on Thursday filed a wide-ranging proposal aimed at reshaping economic development, infrastructure, health care, and education in rural counties across Florida ahead of the 2026 legislative session.
The measure, Senate Bill 250, establishes new funding streams, expands existing programs, and creates state-level support structures designed to help rural counties respond to population shifts, long-term infrastructure needs, and access gaps in essential services.
“Quality of life in rural areas can be impacted by access to job opportunities, education and health care. Rural Renaissance combines enhancements to the traditional infrastructure for schools and hospitals with innovations that drastically expand opportunities for education, commerce, and health care in rural Florida,” said Simon. “We know commerce and capital are attracted to strong transportation infrastructure and robust public services, which will provide the chance for rural communities to prosper and grow while maintaining a time-honored way of life that has been highly sought after generation after generation. The free state of Florida is leading the way, and we won’t leave our rural communities behind.”
The bill updates how Florida defines fiscally constrained counties, doubling the current threshold from $5 million to $10 million in property tax revenue per mill. It also significantly increases state support for those counties by raising the annual distribution from $10.2 million to no less than $50 million and tying the revenue source to statewide sales tax collections. Rural counties would be required to dedicate 50 percent of the funds to public safety, 30 percent to infrastructure, and 20 percent to other public purposes.
SB 250 establishes a new Office of Rural Prosperity within the Department of Commerce to provide technical assistance, coordinate planning, and maintain a statewide directory of federal and state resources. The bill also creates $1 million annual block grants for seven counties that have experienced population loss over the past decade, continuing until each county achieves three consecutive years of growth.
Transportation and infrastructure provisions include an expansion of the Rural Infrastructure Fund, a larger revolving loan program for local governments, and a new Florida Arterial Road Modernization Program with $50 million annually for farm-to-market roads. The Small County Road Assistance Program would also see increased funding from redirected vehicle title fees.
The legislation increases the minimum State Housing Initiatives Partnership allocation for all counties from $350,000 to $1 million and dedicates $30 million to preserve USDA-subsidized rental units that are at risk of converting to market-rate housing. It also expands broadband coordination to help communities access federal funding through programs such as BEAD.
In education, the bill triples per-district funding for regional education consortia, establishes new supplemental service grants, updates eligibility rules for the Special Facility Construction Account, and creates a loan repayment program providing up to $15,000 for educators working in fiscally constrained counties.
On health care, SB 250 funds startup costs for primary care practices in rural areas, expands eligibility for the FRAME reimbursement program, creates a new training program for stroke, cardiac, and obstetrics emergency response, and increases support for rural hospitals through capital grants and enhanced Medicaid payments.
In total, the bill carries roughly $218 million in appropriations and redirects additional revenue through various state trust funds.