---
type: "Bill"
title: "Veterans Dental Care Grant Program"
description: "Veterans Dental Care Grant Program; Revises purpose of Veterans Dental Care Grant Program."
jurisdiction: "us/states/fl"
legislature: "Florida Legislature"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 253"
citation: "Florida HB 253 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
chapter_law: "2026-166"
primary_sponsors: ["Edmonds", "Gantt"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 43
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2025-10-23"
last_action: "2026-06-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d46bd6a3-bee6-483c-b77e-3ba48bfc01c3"
source_url: "https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/253/ByCategory"
source_hash: "d87d7ca1e75566d99276c3431d438c82cbb582cc73f98f6f15f7f0715f033d30"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-fl"]
---

# Florida HB 253 (2026) — Veterans Dental Care Grant Program

Veterans Dental Care Grant Program; Revises purpose of Veterans Dental Care Grant Program.

**Enacted** — Laws of Florida, Chapter 2026-166.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **H 253 Filed** (filed) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/253/BillText/Filed/PDF)
2. **H 253 c1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/253/BillText/c1/PDF)
3. **H 253 er** (enrolled) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/253/BillText/er/PDF)

## Votes

- Passage, Third Reading — **116–0** (pass) · lower
- Favorable (Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee) — **16–0** (pass) · lower
- Favorable (Health Care Budget Subcommittee) — **15–0** (pass) · lower
- Favorable (State Affairs Committee) — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **34–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Edmonds — primary (person)
- Gantt — primary (person)
- Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee — primary (organization)
- Bartleman — cosponsor (person)
- Campbell — cosponsor (person)
- Conerly — cosponsor (person)
- Driskell — cosponsor (person)
- Eskamani — cosponsor (person)
- Harris — cosponsor (person)
- Hunschofsky — cosponsor (person)
- Joseph — cosponsor (person)
- López, J. — cosponsor (person)
- Mooney — cosponsor (person)
- Nixon — cosponsor (person)
- Spencer — cosponsor (person)
- Tendrich — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2025-10-23** Filed `filing`
- **2025-10-28** Referred to Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2025-10-28** Referred to Health Care Budget Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2025-10-28** Referred to State Affairs Committee `referral-committee`
- **2025-10-28** Now in Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee
- **2026-01-12** PCS added to Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee agenda
- **2026-01-13** 1st Reading (Original Filed Version) `filing, reading-1`
- **2026-01-14** Favorable with CS by Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-01-14** Reported out of Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee
- **2026-01-14** Laid on Table under Rule 7.18(a) `deferral`
- **2026-01-14** CS Filed `filing`
- **2026-01-15** 1st Reading (Committee Substitute 1) `reading-1`
- **2026-01-16** Referred to Health Care Budget Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-16** Referred to State Affairs Committee `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-16** Now in Health Care Budget Subcommittee
- **2026-01-26** Added to Health Care Budget Subcommittee agenda
- **2026-01-28** Favorable by Health Care Budget Subcommittee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-01-28** Reported out of Health Care Budget Subcommittee
- **2026-01-28** Now in State Affairs Committee
- **2026-02-13** Added to State Affairs Committee agenda
- **2026-02-17** Favorable by State Affairs Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-17** Reported out of State Affairs Committee
- **2026-02-17** Bill released to House Calendar
- **2026-02-17** Added to Second Reading Calendar
- **2026-02-19** Bill added to Special Order Calendar (2/25/2026)
- **2026-02-25** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-25** Added to Third Reading Calendar
- **2026-02-25** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-25** CS passed; YEAS 116, NAYS 0 `passage`
- **2026-02-25** In Messages
- **2026-02-26** Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-26** Received `enrolled`
- **2026-03-06** Withdrawn from Rules `withdrawal`
- **2026-03-06** Placed on Calendar, on 2nd reading
- **2026-03-06** Substituted for CS/CS/SB 96
- **2026-03-06** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-06** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-06** CS passed; YEAS 34 NAYS 0 `passage`
- **2026-03-06** In Messages
- **2026-03-06** Ordered enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-06-12** Signed by Officers and presented to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-06-25** Approved by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2026-06-26** Chapter No. 2026-166

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d46bd6a3-bee6-483c-b77e-3ba48bfc01c3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Florida legislature records).