BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

HB 6033 (Grieco) repeals all preemption provisions in current law relating to the local regulation of vacation rentals. (Taggart)

SB 512 (Burgess) and HB 325 (Fischer) 

Impact on Local Governments

The bills maintain the current preemption on local governments from adopting zoning ordinances specific to short-term rentals, as well as regulating the duration of stays and the frequency in which the properties are rented. The bills expand this preemption to include local regulations on advertising platforms. For cities that adopted ordinances prior to June 1, 2011, the bills maintain the "grandfather" currently in place but clarify that those cities may amend their ordinances to be less restrictive or to comply with a local registration program. For cities that do not have "grandfathered" protections, the bills preempt cities from licensing short-term rentals; however, they authorize local governments to have a local registration program. 

Local governments who choose to adopt a local registration program may impose a fine for failure to register. The local government has 15 days after receiving an application for registration to either accept the application or issue a written notice specifying all deficiencies. Both parties may agree to extend the timeline. If a municipality does not accept or deny an application within that 15-day window, that application is deemed approved. As a condition of registration, the local registration programs may only require the owner or operator of a vacation rental to:

•Pay a fee of no more than $50 for processing the registration application.

•Renew their registration no more than once per year unless the property has a change in ownership. 

•Submit identifying information about the owner or the property manager and the short-term rental being registered.

•Obtain a license as a transient public lodging establishment by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) within 60 days of local registration.

•Obtain all required tax registration, receipts or certificates issued by the Department of Revenue, a county or a municipal government. 

•Maintain all registration information on a continuing basis so it is current.

•Comply with parking and solid waste handling requirements. These requirements cannot be imposed solely on short-term rentals.

•Designate and maintain a property designee who can respond to complaints and other immediate problems related to the property, including being available by phone.

•Pay in full all municipal or county code liens against the property being registered. 

Impact on Advertising Platforms and DBPR

Advertising platforms must include in all listings the property's state license number, and if applicable, the local registration number. After July 1, 2023, the advertising platform will be required to check and verify the license number of all listings with DBPR. Additionally, by that date, DBPR will be required to maintain all short-term rental license information in an electronic format to ensure prompt compliance. Advertising platforms will be required to remove unlicensed listings within 15 days after notification by DBPR, as well as collect and remit all required taxes. 

Termination/Denial of License

DBPR may revoke, refuse to issue or renew a short-term rental license or suspend the license for up to 30 days under several circumstances:

•The property owner violates the terms of any lease or applicable condominium, coop or homeowner's association restrictions. 

•The owner fails to provide proof of local registration if one is required.

•The local registration is terminated by a local government for violating any of the registration requirements described above.

•The property and property owner are subject to a final order or judgment directing termination of the properties short-term rental status.

•DBPR may also suspend the license for up to 30 days when the short-term rental has been cited for two or more code enforcement violations during a 90-day period. (Taggart)

HB 75 (Sabatini), SB 592 (Perry) and SB 594 (Perry) – Limiting COVID-19 Restrictions

HB 179 (Altman) and SB 702 (Burgess) – Photographic Enforcement of School Bus Safety

HB 6009 (Sabatini), HB 6069 (Shoaf) and SB 734 (Gruters) – Vaccinations During Public Health Emergencies

HB 297 (Aloupis) and SB 476 (Book) – Aggressive Careless Driving

HB 19 (Gottlieb) and SB 402 (Polsky) – Firearm Restrictions Pursuant to Court Findings or Risk Protection Orders

HB 73 (Rayner) and SB 888 (Jones) – Use or Threatened Use of Force

HB 83 (Eskamani) and SB 372 (Berman) – Domestic Violence

HB 103 (Sabatini) – Carrying of Firearms Without a License

HB 109 (McCurdy) – Prohibiting Deception in Interrogations of Minors

HB 133 (Sabatini) – Prohibiting Cooperation with a United States Capitol Police Officer Located in this State

HB 181 (Daley) and SB 334 (Polsky) – Sales of Ammunition

HB 199 (Smith, C.) and SB 214 (Farmer) – Assault Weapons and Large-capacity Magazines

SB 204 (Farmer) – Sale and Delivery of Firearms

SB 210 (Farmer) – Prohibited Recordkeeping Relating to Firearms  or Firearm Owners

HB 347 (Rayner), SB 1166 (Polsky), and SB 220 (Farmer) and – Sale, Transfer, or Storage of Firearms

HB 363 (Hart) and SB 630 (Jones) – Pregnant Women in Custody

SB 458 (Torres) and HB 665 (Goff-Marcil) – Secure Storage of Firearms

SB 660 (Cruz) – Sexual Offense Victims' Rights

SB 668 (Cruz) – Custodial Interrogations of Minors 

SB 672 (Cruz) – School Safety Funding

SB 860 (Stewart) and SB 862 (Stewart) – Firearms Without a Unique Serial Number or Identifying Mark

SB 872 (Polsky) and HB 527 (Hunschofsky) – Unfinished Firearms

SB 874 (Pizzo) – Arrests

SB 916 (Brandes) – Searches of Cellular Phones and Other Electronic Devices 

SB 502 (Rodriguez) – Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity

HB 817 (Massullo) and SB 1114 (Bradley) – Emergency Medical Care Treatment to Minors Without Parental Consent 

SB 1196 (Jones) and SB 1198 (Jones) – Community Violence Task Force

HB 6007 (Sabatini) – License to Carry Concealed Weapons or Firearms

HB 6013 (Sabatini) – Removing Firearm Regulations

HB 6029 (Sabatini) preempts cities, counties and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles from installing, maintaining or utilizing red light cameras effective July 1, 2025. (Branch)

SB 890 (Burgess) and HB 593 (Trabulsy) require an employee of a public safety agency who answers emergency medical service calls to provide direct telephonic assistance in administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation or transfer calls to a dedicated telephone line, call center or other public safety agency with which the transferring public safety agency has a reciprocal agreement. The bills also require all 911 public safety telecommunicators who take telephone calls and provide dispatch functions for emergency medical conditions to complete telecommunicator cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and continuing education as deemed appropriate by the Department of Health. (Taggart)

SB 802 (Gruters) requires the Department of Education to work with local emergency management and law enforcement personnel to create a model reunification plan for use by child care facilities, K-12 schools and public postsecondary educational institutions for schools that are unexpectedly evacuated due to a disaster. Each school district will be required to adopt a district-specific plan by working with local law enforcement. The model plan will be required to be reviewed annually. The bill also requires law enforcement officers responsible for responding to specific schools in the event of an active assailant emergency to be physically present on campus during the execution of active assailant emergency drills. The bill also directs the Department of Education to consult with local constituencies to establish minimum drill policies relating to the timing, frequency, participation, training, notification, accommodations and responses to threat situations by incident type, as well as to school level and characteristics. The bill specifies that these drills be conducted at least annually. (Taggart)

SB 496 (Taddeo) and HB 6049 (Daley) repeal the current statutory preemption prohibiting cities and counties from regulating firearms and ammunition. (Taggart)

HB 189 (Duran), SB 410 (Rodriguez) and HB 797 (Overdorf) authorize a county or municipality to contract with a vendor to install cameras in school speed zones to enforce speed limits. Within the first 30 days after such a camera or cameras are installed in a school speed zone, a motor vehicle operator found to have violated the speed limit will be issued a warning and will not be liable for the civil penalty. (Branch)

SB 370 (Hooper) and HB 351 (Duggan) add service as a firefighter as grounds for increased criminal penalties for certain criminal offenses. (Taggart)

HB 11 (Rizo) prohibits a person from approaching a law enforcement officer after receiving a warning with intent to impede, provoke or harass. (Taggart)

SB 652 (Cruz) requires the employer of each athletic venue, entertainment venue and convention center capable of accommodating 5,000 persons or more to display a human trafficking public awareness sign. (Taggart)

SB 788 (Hooper) creates the Florida Hometown Hero Housing Program to assist frontline emergency workers, certain medical and health care personnel and educators in purchasing a home as their primary residence. (Branch)

HB 127 (Slosberg) prohibits the use of handheld wireless devices while operating a motor vehicle where first responders are actively working. This bill does provide several exceptions, such as first responders performing in their official capacity or drivers accessing safety-related information, including emergency, traffic or weather alerts. (Branch)

SB 544 (Boyd) and HB 731 (Caruso) require EMS providers to electronically report suspected or actual controlled substance overdoses using the Emergency Medical Service Tracking and Reporting System or other program as identified by department rule. Current law allows for optional reporting. (Taggart)

SB 226 (Powell) and HB 25 (Killebrew) create the Care for Retired Law Enforcement Dog Program within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). The bills require that the FDLE contract with a nonprofit corporation to administer and manage the program. (Taggart)

HB 493 (Botana) and SB 606 (Garcia) create additional safety provisions and requirements for boat liveries or privately owned boat rental companies. Of importance to local governments, the bills require livery owners to notify local law enforcement if a vessel is unnecessarily overdue more than one hour after the contracted time. Additionally, the bills appropriate funding for the creation of an Illegal Boating Strike Team for the purposes of increasing intergovernmental coordination while addressing illegal boating activity. (Taggart)

SB 614 (Garcia) and HB 721 (Buchanan) authorize certain housing authorities to adopt ordinances, rules or policies relating to dangerous dogs. The bills remove an exemption for local ordinances adopted before a specified date that pertain to dogs that have bitten or attacked persons or domestic animals. (Branch)

HB 699 (McFarland) and SB 934 (Gruters) – Pub. Rec./Homelessness Counts and Databases

HB 773 (Willhite) and SB 1046 (Hooper) exempt from public records requirements law enforcement officers and law enforcement vehicle geolocation information. The bills specify that the exemption would be applied retroactively. (Taggart)

HB 307 (Hawkins) and SB 716 (Bradley) provide a public records exemption for the personal information of individuals who adopt an animal from an animal shelter or animal control agency operated by a local government. (Taggart)