Sen. Corey Simon has filed the 2026 Rural Renaissance package that carries the support of Senate President Ben Albritton and seeks to add more resources to lift up rural areas by expanding health care, improving roads and more.
“As we prepare to embark on a nationwide celebration of America’s 250th Anniversary, there is no better time to celebrate and renew our focus on heritage farming communities across our state and nation,” Albritton said in a statement.
SB 250 would update the definitions of “fiscally constrained counties” to provide more support, create an Office of Rural Prosperity to offer help, and allocate block grants to grow populations, among other provisions that are part of the nearly $218 million Rural Renaissance package.
Simon, a Tallahassee Republican, said the bill is needed to help rural communities facing struggles and disappearing.
“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,” Simon said.
The bill redirects $50 million from the general fund to build farm-to-market roads between rural agricultural areas and market distribution centers.
It also would create the Office of Rural Prosperity at the Department of Commerce to help local governments plan, win state and federal grants and be a resource for local officials.
“Personnel will be permanently assigned to regional rural community liaison centers across the state to engage with locals and facilitate access to resources,” Simon’s Office said in a press release. “They will aid local governments in accessing state and federal resources and conduct routine trainings on the requirements of the Community Planning Act and other relevant state and federal legislation.”
Several rural areas, like Gadsden, Hardee, Hamilton, Taylor, Jackson, Calhoun, and Liberty counties, are shrinking in population and businesses are closing.
“The bill creates a $1 million block grant for each of the seven counties with declining populations. Each county must develop a plan to use the funds with the goal of population growth,” Simon’s Office said. “Use of these funds will be audited. The grant will be awarded annually until the county sees three consecutive years of population growth.”
Among other measures, the bill would increase the Rural Revolving Loan Program that the Legislature started in 1996 to help spur rural communities’ economic development.
“Currently, the program receives $420,000 annually,” Simon’s Office said. “The bill increases recurring funding to a total of $1.4 million, with an additional one-time infusion of $4 million. Because these are loans, these funds will be leveraged by rural communities many times.”
The sweeping bill also would create a new grant program to encourage medical providers to relocate to rural areas to expand access to health care. The grants would cover the startup costs of starting a practice, like facility construction, a lease, medical equipment and furnishings.
The push comes after a combative Session earlier this year saw the 2025 Rural Renaissance package largely blow up amid fractured negotiations between chambers.