Thursday’s negotiations proved fruitful for some Hillsborough and Pinellas area projects, but others were left on the cutting room floor.
House and Senate budget negotiators have now traded multiple formal offers, and the latest House counteroffer begins to move some Tampa Bay area transportation and economic development projects but still leaving several major divides unresolved.
The Senate’s first offer, released Thursday as part of the budget conference process, largely kept that chamber’s original positions intact on Hillsborough and Pinellas projects. But House’s second offer, released later Thursday, reshuffles the House’s position on several local requests — picking up some Senate-backed Pinellas projects while dropping or scaling back others.
In Hillsborough County, the House offer now drops Tampa’s Bay Works FabLab from $500,000 to zero, while the Senate remains at $1 million as of the chamber’s first offer. It also drops Habitat for Humanity of Tampa Bay Hillsborough’s Resilient Homes for Heroes project from $475,000 to zero, even as the Senate kept the project at $350,000.
The House offer also drops $2.5 million it had previously proposed for the Hillsborough County African American Arts and Cultural Center that the Senate proposed no funding for.
The House did hold tight on other offers that the Senate has not funded, including $500,000 for Tampa Theatre’s centennial restoration and expansion, $160,000 for Tampa Firefighters Museum enhancements, and $250,000 for Tampa’s 30th Street and Sligh Avenue area intersection improvements. Embarc Collective, previously backed by the House at $1.5 million, is reduced to $100,000 in the new offer.
On the other hand, the House still has not picked up the Senate’s $3.9 million request for Hillsborough County East 26th Avenue Road Improvements.
In Pinellas County, House negotiators moved toward the Senate on several projects.
The House now matches the Senate’s $500,000 offer for Habitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside’s Century Drive project, $350,000 for the Pinellas County Housing Authority’s Mills Affordable Housing Development Project, $484,500 for SPCA Tampa Bay shelter safety and preparedness, $500,000 for Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services security and technology enhancements, and $490,000 for Menorah Life St. Petersburg’s security and safety initiative.
The House also picked up Senate-backed cultural projects that it had not previously offered funding for, including $350,000 for The Florida Orchestra’s home facility, $350,000 for The Pinellas Science Center and $2.5 million for The Florida Holocaust Museum’s Elie Wiesel Exhibition and Learning Center.
Other Pinellas projects lost ground in the latest House offer as well. The House drops $2 million it had previously proposed for Pinellas County Seminole Junior Warhawks Youth Sports Field Improvements, $1.25 million for Mahaffey Theater renovations, $80,000 for Safety Harbor City Hall security improvements, and $1 million for hurricane hardening at the Lealman Exchange.
The House also did not pick up the Senate’s $7.5 million for Pinellas County East Lake Road Phase I Capacity Improvements or $3 million for Oldsmar’s Patty/Country Club Drive project.
The chamber did offer a revised $350,000 for Pinellas County Hurricane Shelter Hardening for special needs emergency generators, down from the $2 million it proposed earlier, after the Senate offered no funds during its first offer.
The final list could still change as House and Senate budget negotiators continue working through transportation and economic development differences. Thursday’s negotiations proved fruitful for some Hillsborough and Pinellas area projects, but others were left on the cutting room floor entirely without funding.
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Budget negotiators are weighing a slate of Tampa Bay transportation, housing, cultural and storm-hardening projects, with the House and Senate aligned on some local priorities but still divided on many others.
The House and Senate released details about ongoing budget negotiations as lawmakers opened a Special Session to finalize the 2026 budget. Several Hillsborough and Pinellas Transportation and Economic Development projects appear in both chambers’ spending plans, though often at different amounts. The projects are just some of the vast number of local requests from the Tampa Bay areas under consideration at the legislature this month.
In Hillsborough County, that includes the Advanced Manufacturing & Robotics Center (AMRoC) Fab Lab, which the House funds at $500,000 and the Senate funds at $1 million, as well as Habitat for Humanity of Tampa Bay Hillsborough’s Resilient Homes for Heroes project, which is funded at $475,000 in the House plan and $350,000 in the Senate plan.
The chambers diverge on other local projects as well. The House is backing several Hillsborough projects that did not receive Senate funding proposals, including $2.5 million for the Hillsborough County African American Arts and Cultural Center, $1.5 million for Embarc Collective, $500,000 for Tampa Theatre’s centennial restoration and expansion, $160,000 for Tampa Firefighters Museum enhancements, and $250,000 for Tampa’s 30th Street and Sligh Avenue area intersection improvements.
The Senate, meanwhile, proposed $3.9 million for Hillsborough County East 26th Avenue Road Improvements, an item that did not receive funding in the House plan or the House’s latest offer.
Pinellas County has a longer list of projects caught up in negotiations, including several where the chambers agree on the project but not the amount.
Shared Pinellas priorities include Habitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside’s Century Drive project, funded at $250,000 in the House plan and $500,000 in the Senate plan; Madeira Beach’s Area 6 Roadway Improvement Project, funded at $500,000 by the House and $350,000 by the Senate; Safety Harbor City Hall Security Improvements, funded at $80,000 by the House and $160,000 by the Senate; Belleair’s Barbara Circle reconstruction, funded at $2.1 million by the House and $4.2 million by the Senate; and a project in Clearwater to elevate Bayshore Drive, funded at $500,000 by the House and $650,000 by the Senate.
Other Pinellas projects with support from both chambers include Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services security and technology enhancements, funded at $250,000 in the House plan and $500,000 in the Senate plan; a security and safety initiative at Menorah Life in St. Petersburg, funded at $245,000 in the House and $490,000 in the Senate; and the YMCA of the Suncoast and Pinellas County Schools co-located facility, funded at $1 million in the House and $650,000 in the Senate.
But funding for several other Pinellas-area projects remains further apart.
The House is backing several proposals that did not get earmarked under Senate funding, including $2 million for Pinellas County Seminole Junior Warhawks Youth Sports Field Improvements and $1.25 million for Duke Energy Center for the Arts Mahaffey Theater renovations. The House plan also includes $2 million for Pinellas County Hurricane Shelter Hardening through special needs emergency generators; $1 million for hurricane hardening at the Lealman Exchange; $350,000 for The Florida Holocaust Museum’s Advancing Holocaust Museum Education and Research project; and $62,500 for Holocaust Museum Safety and Security.
The Senate, meanwhile, is seeking money for several Pinellas projects that are not funded in the House plan. Those include $7.5 million for Pinellas County East Lake Road Phase I Capacity Improvements; $3 million for the City of Oldsmar’s Patty/Country Club Drive project; $400,000 for Belleair’s scour critical bridge project; $750,000 for Belleair Bluffs Public Works Facility planning; nearly $378,000 for Gulfport’s police and fire rapid response roadway reconstruction; $350,000 for South Pasadena City Hall hardening and resiliency; $350,000 for St. Pete Beach’s Boca Ciega Drive Reconstruction; and $350,000 for the Pinellas County Housing Authority’s Mills Affordable Housing Development Project.
The list of projects only funded by the Senate continues, including $2.5 million for The Florida Holocaust Museum’s Elie Wiesel Exhibition and Learning Center; $350,000 for The Dali Museum; $350,000 for The St. Petersburg Science Center; $350,000 for The Florida Orchestra’s home facility; about $485,000 for Ruth Eckerd Hall emergency upgrades; $350,000 for Clearwater Marine Aquarium renovations; $350,000 for YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg’s Gills renovation; and $484,500 for SPCA Tampa Bay shelter safety and preparedness.
The final list could still change as House and Senate budget negotiators work through transportation and economic development differences. Any agreed-upon spending plan would still need approval from both chambers before heading to the Governor’s desk.
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