BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

HB 421 (Gossett-Seidman) and SB 572 (Rodriguez) require local governments and other entities to make best efforts to provide advance notice to the entity or person who installed a traffic-related roadside memorial commemorating a deceased person before altering, dismantling, destroying or removing it. (Wagoner)

SB 166 (Polsky) creates the Medical Marijuana Public Employee Protection Act. The bill would prohibit a public employer from taking adverse personnel actions against an employee or job applicant who is a qualified patient for their use of medical marijuana unless that use is impairing the employee's ability to perform their job duties or responsibilities. (Chapman)

HB 395 (Black) and SB 1122 (Martin) prohibit a local government from removing historical monuments and memorials. A local government may only relocate a historical monument in certain circumstances. The bills provide that any person or entity that damages, defaces, destroys or removes an existing monument or memorial will be civilly liable for the costs to return, repair or replace the monument or memorial unless the person was authorized or the entity was the owner. (Wagoner)

SB 888 (Perry) provides residential property owners an alternative remedy to remove unauthorized persons, such as a squatter, from a residential dwelling. The residential property owners may request the sheriff immediately remove unlawful occupants under specific circumstances. (Cruz)

CS/HB 271 (Lopez, V.) and SB 388 (Garcia) narrow the current preemption on the regulation of private parking lot operations to include a preemption only on the rates charged for parking and for violating the parking lot rules. The bills would restrict parking lot owners from charging a late fee until after 30 days from the date the invoice was postmarked. The bill also prohibits parking lot owners from charging for parking if the vehicle is on the property for less than 10 minutes. (Branch)

SB 496 (Perry) and HB 535 (Snyder) expand the criteria for the installation of low-voltage electric fences in areas not considered to be zoned exclusively for single-family or multifamily residential use if the area is within more than one zoning category. Of concern to local government, the bills prohibit the regulation of low-voltage alarms in any manner that is more restrictive than state law. (Branch)

SB 648 (DiCeglie) and HB 377 (Borrero) allow a person who holds a valid vehicle-for-hire license or permit from any city or county the ability to operate a vehicle for hire in another city or county without being subject to additional licensing or permitting requirements. This preemption would not apply to transportation services to and from an airport. (Branch)

SB 1094 (Martin) specifies that beginning July 1, 2024, the Department of Health must get approval from the Legislature before adding any new vaccines for school attendance. The bill also prohibits the department, state agencies, local governments and political subdivisions from participating in or employing any digital health identification registry or similar mechanism for tracking the health data of residents without prior approval from the Legislature. The bill also introduces a way for people to claim an exemption from vaccination if an FDA-approved vaccine is not available, allowing individuals to make this claim for themselves or their dependents without facing additional conditions from employers or other entities. The bill prohibits certain mandatory vaccination policies during public health emergencies without legislative approval. (Branch)

HB 1099 (Melo) and SB 676 (Bradley) are comprehensive food delivery platform bills. Of concern to cities, the bills expressly preempt the regulation of the food delivery platforms to the state. (Branch)

HB 1419 (Tuck) and SB 1420 (Burgess) are comprehensive bills that amend requirements for comprehensive plan amendments and revise the roles of the Florida Department of Commerce (formerly Department of Economic Opportunity). The bills mandate that local governments hold a second public hearing to decide whether to adopt comprehensive plan amendments within 180 days after receiving agency comments. Failure to hold this hearing and adopt the amendments within this timeframe will result in the amendments being deemed withdrawn, unless an extension is agreed upon with the state land planning agency and any affected person who provided comments. The bills require local governments to transmit all adopted amendments, along with supporting data and analysis, to the state land planning agency and any other agency or local government that provided timely comments within 10 working days after the final adoption hearing. If the local government does not meet this 10-working-day deadline, the amendments will be deemed withdrawn. (Cruz)

HB 459 (Rudman) and SB 402 (Yarborough) revise the criteria of the State Health Officer extending a statewide public health emergency to require approval by a two-thirds majority vote of the Legislature. HB 459 prohibits the State Health Officer from issuing a blanket closure on government buildings and services, churches and altering election procedures and protocols. However, any action that will affect an entire group must be authorized on a case-by-case basis, with each case being afforded all rights of due process. (Branch)

SB 506 (Wright) adds code enforcement officers to the list of covered professionals under Section 784.07, Florida Statutes, which provides penalties for assault, battery, aggravated assault, and aggravated battery when the offense is knowingly committed against a law enforcement officer or other specified professionals who are engaged in the lawful performance of his or her duties. (Wagoner)

HB 981 (Bankson) makes significant changes to the regulation of private airports, specifically addressing vertiports and powered-lift aircraft. The bill does the following:

Vertiport Approval:

•Requires private airport owners or lessees intending to operate vertiports for powered-lift aircraft to obtain a powered-lift aircraft endorsement from the Department of Transportation (DOT).

Vertiport Licensing and Location Control:

•Prohibits counties or municipalities from licensing vertiports or controlling their locations.

•Preempts determination of suitable vertiport sites and safety standards to the state.

•Local government land development regulations and zoning requirements do not apply to vertiport sites.

Department of Transportation Department

•Mandates the DOT to designate a subject matter expert for advanced air mobility, focusing on powered-lift aircraft and electrification of aviation.

•Requires the DOT to provide annual reports to the Governor and Legislature on advanced air mobility industry status, technological advances, federal regulations and recommendations for land use compatibility around vertiports.

•Mandates the DOT to serve as a resource for local governments and stakeholders in powered-lift aircraft and vertiport development.

Advanced Air Mobility Test Site:

•Designates the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority as the advanced air mobility test site for the state. (Branch)

SB 1774 (Powell) and HB 1477 (Williams) require that parks, youth recreation or sports facilities owned or operated by a local government have a functioning automated external defibrillator (AED) on premises at all times. The bills also specify that employees and volunteers at these facilities have proper training. (Wagoner)

SB 854 (Martin) and HB 1643 (Rommel) require airport authorities, special districts created by the Legislature, to only allow aircraft to land if they meet Federal Aviation Administration noise standards and weight limits set by the International Civil Aviation Organization. Authorized aircraft within the weight range of 75,000 to 125,000 pounds may face restrictions on landing frequency, increased landing fees, or higher charges for hangar and storage facilities. The airport authority can request documentation confirming an aircraft's compliance before its first landing and annually thereafter. (Branch)

HB 119 (Melo) and SB 188 (Brodeur) – Trespass on Commercial Agricultural Property

HB 997 (Gottlieb) – Expedited Foreclosure Proceedings for Abandoned Real Property

SB 1370 (Torres) – Abandoned Residential Real Property

HB 1229 (Porras) and SB 1068 (Rodriguez) – Marketable Record Title to Real Property

HB 1621 (Beltran) authorizes municipalities to impose an enhanced fine for the unauthorized demolition of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or designated as a local historic landmark if the code enforcement board or special magistrate makes specific findings. Fines imposed may not exceed an amount that is 20% of the property appraiser’s evaluation of the fair market value. (Cruz)

HB 397 (Cross) and SB 404 (Rouson) expand the urban agricultural pilot project to allow for commercial agricultural use of residential property in certain circumstances. (Cruz)

HB 1647 (Roach) and SB 1526 (Avila) restricts local governments from prohibiting, restricting, or preventing the demolition of nonconforming or unsafe structures. The bills authorize the demolition of a structure and automatic replacement without requiring the new structure to have historical features or characteristics. The bills also prohibit local governments from imposing additional restrictions on the demolition or redevelopment that depart from existing requirements for a similarly situated parcel. The bills specify the provisions do not apply to a structure individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places or a contributing structure listed prior to 2000, a single-family home, or a structure located on a barrier island in a municipality with a population less than 10,000, which has at least six city blocks that are not located within flood zones V, VE, AO or AE, as identified in Flood Insurance Rate Map issued by FEMA. (Cruz)

SB 1184 (Ingoglia) and HB 1221 (McClain) are comprehensive bills relating to land use and development regulations. The bills amend various regulations relating to comprehensive plans. The bill would restrict optional elements of a comprehensive plan from containing a policy restricting density and intensity. The bills amend definitions of intensity, density, urban service area and urban sprawl to promote the construction of additional single-family, two-family and fee simple townhomes. The bills require local governments to adopt minimum lot sizes with single-family, two-family and fee simple townhouse zoning districts to accommodate the maximum density authorized in the comprehensive plan. The bills require local governments to adopt infill redevelopment regulations to administratively approve the development of infill single-family, two-family and fee simple townhouses. HB 1221 also contains a provision that would requires the automatic rezoning of agricultural land for single family housing in certain circumstances. This provision is not found in SB 1184. (Cruz)