What Is a Local Funding Initiative Request (LFIR) — and Why You Should Know

The form that moves money in Tallahassee. What it is, why it matters, and how to find every one ever filed.

A Local Funding Initiative Request — an LFIR, in the parlance of the Florida Senate — is a form. A rather specific form. It is the mechanism by which a municipality, county, or other eligible entity asks a state legislator to sponsor a budget appropriation on its behalf.

When the form is filed with the Senate Committee on Appropriations, it becomes a public record. Immediately. The Florida Senate posts every LFIR to its website the moment it is received. No request required. No waiting period. No fee.

This is, as these things go, an unusually transparent arrangement.

Why advocates should care

The LFIR tells you three things that are otherwise difficult to establish from public meeting records alone.

First, it tells you what was actually filed — as opposed to what was discussed, approved, or promised at a public meeting. A council vote establishes intent. An LFIR establishes action. They are not always the same thing.

Second, it tells you who filed it. The form requires a requester contact, a recipient contact, and a lobbyist contact. These are not always the same people who spoke at the council meeting.

Third, it tells you when. The date of filing is on the form. Combined with the date of the council vote that authorized the filing, the elapsed time between the two is itself a fact in the record.

How to find them

Every LFIR filed with the Florida Senate is posted here:

flsenate.gov — FY2025-26 Local Funding Initiative Requests

Change the fiscal year in the URL to search prior sessions — FY2024-25, FY2023-24, and so on going back to 2017-18. Each page contains a searchable table. Type a city name, a county name, or a project description in the filter box. The form number, project title, sponsoring senator, and requested amount are all visible in the table. Click the form number to download the full PDF.

The PDF is the document. It is signed. It is dated. It is on the record.

Mr. Gaines practiced law in Manhattan for forty-one years. He does not consider this complicated.

Source

Florida Senate LFIR Index — All Fiscal Years
The authoritative public record of all Local Funding Initiative Requests filed with the Florida Senate Appropriations Committee. Posted immediately upon filing. Searchable by city, county, project description, or sponsor.
flsenate.gov — Local Funding Initiative Requests