By Jim Turner ©2024 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s 2024-2025 fiscal year will arrive next week with a fresh $116.5 billion budget and nearly 200 new laws.
Lawmakers also tucked another $2 billion in spending into bills, with that money not showing up in the budget (HB 5001).
Among the measures slated to take effect July 1 are:
HB 21
Provides $20 million to compensate victims of abuse at the shuttered Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna and another state reform school in Okeechobee County
HB 49
Eases regulations on hours that 16- and 17-year-old youths can work, including allowing parents and school superintendents to waive a 30-hour-a-week limit when school is in session.
HB 87
Bolsters self-defense arguments for people who shoot bears on their property.
HB 117
Allows the release of grand jury testimony involving the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
SB 330
Creates behavioral-health teaching hospitals linked to universities to help address issues with treating patients for mental health conditions.
HB 385
Gives courts the power to require parents to use “neutral safe exchange” locations at sheriffs’ offices when they share custody of children.
HB 415
Directs the Florida Department of Health to set up a website that provides information and links to certain “pregnancy and parenting resources.”
HB 433
Prevents local governments from imposing requirements on businesses about heat-exposure protections for workers.
SB 544
Requires the Department of Health to establish a network of providers to participate in a swimming lesson voucher program.
HB 601
Restricts citizen review boards from investigating alleged wrongdoing by police officers.
HB 919
Requires political ads that contain “images, video, audio, graphics, or other digital content” created using artificial intelligence to include a disclaimer.
HB 931
Authorizes school districts to allow volunteer school chaplains.
SB 968
Designates property at Tyndall Air Force Base in Bay County and within the former boundaries of Homestead Air Force Base in Miami-Dade County as “spaceport territory.”
SB 1264
Adds the history of communism to required instruction in public schools starting in the 2026-2027 school year.
HB 1291
Prevents “identity politics” from being included in college and university teacher-preparation programs.
HB 1503
Allows what are known as “surplus lines” carriers to take out some non-homesteaded properties from the state’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
HB 1645
Repeals parts of state law about greenhouse gas emissions and bans wind turbines offshore.
SB 1764
Increases penalties for participants in “street takeovers.”
SB 7002
Part of a school “deregulation” effort led by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, includes allowing districts to publish notices of intent to adopt tentative budgets on school board websites instead of in newspapers.
SB 7028
Includes $200 million to continue the My Safe Florida Home program, which helps residents harden their homes against storms.
SB 7032
Provides tuition and fee waivers for high-school dropouts who pursue diplomas and workforce credentials at state colleges.
HB 7063
Prevents strippers under age 21 from working in adult entertainment businesses.
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