Affordable housing advocates are set to scrap a proposed constitutional amendment to protect affordable housing funds from sweeps for other purposes, instead opting to work with lawmakers to reach a consensus.

The group Florida Realtors is abandoning its attempt to put the question to Floridians whether to prevent the Legislature from raiding money meant for housing into the state's general pool of cash. That comes after legislative leadership applied pressure on the group to end the campaign, which started in June.

The group will work with legislative leaders for a solution including new homeownership opportunities targeted at frontline workers. Realtors President Cheryl Lambert said leadership has committed to work with the group to find a solution to the housing crisis.

"This crisis cannot wait," Lambert said. "Every day, we hear about workers who are bearing the brunt of the pandemic who can't afford a home. This approach will help bring homeownership within reach of Floridians much faster."

A proposed constitutional amendment wouldn't appear on the ballot until at least 2022, assuming the ballot initiative cleared all the necessary hurdles, including a sufficient number of voter signatures.

Sweeping affordable housing funds has been a political flashpoint for more than a decade. That's why Republicans under Senate President Wilton Simpson and House Speaker Chris Sprowls touted the deal this year, approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis, to create a predictable funding source for housing dollars as a major win.

However, the plan came at the cost of siphoning off more than half of the funds that had been earmarked for affordable housing since 1992, which Democrats and housing advocates likened to a permanent sweep. The siphoned dollars will be split between sea level rise mitigation and wastewater grants.

Florida Realtors created a political committee called Floridians For Housing in March, and Realtors and other groups stocked it with more than $13 million to back the constitutional amendment. The amendment would have effectively reversed the Legislature's deal and prevented future sweeps.

Sprowls criticized Florida Realtors' move as a "self-serving, special interest agenda" after Floridians For Housing began the ballot initiative. And Naples Republican Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, who is on track to be the next Senate President, has actively worked to get Realtors to scrap the initiative.

In July, Passidomo told the Orlando Sentinel she took Realtors' campaign personally.

Florida Realtors' new plan is to increase homeownership opportunities while preserving rental assistance programs. Realtors CEO Margy Grant said she is pleased by legislative leaders' agreement to find common ground, including on a homeownership program for frontline workers.

"Frontline workers are the absolute foundation of our communities, something that has been made even more apparent during this pandemic. They are putting their lives and health on the line every day to benefit those around them, yet Florida has no homeownership program in place to ensure that these heroes can live in the communities where they work," Grant said.

Committee meetings for the 2022 Session will begin the week of Sept. 20. The 60-day Legislative Session will start Jan. 11.