BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 438 (Rodriguez) clarifies current law to ensure that law enforcement agencies may tow a motor vehicle from the scene of the incident to their storage facility in lieu of the wrecker operator’s storage facility. Current law prohibits a law enforcement agency from placing a hold on a motor vehicle within a wrecker operator’s storage facility for more than five business days If a law enforcement agency does tow a vehicle to their own facility, the agency may not release the vehicle to the owner or lienholder until proof of payment of the towing and storage charges incurred by the wrecker operator are presented to the agency. If the agency releases the vehicle without proof of payment, they are liable for the charges. The bill also preempts to the state the regulation of claiming a lien for the recovery, removal, towing or storage of a vehicle or vessel, including the notification of fees. (Taggart)

CS/CS/SB 752 (Calatayud) preempts the regulation of licenses, registrations, permits and fees for temporary commercial kitchens to the state. The bill defines the term “temporary commercial kitchen” to mean “any kitchen that is a public food service establishment, used for the preparation of takeout or delivery-only meals housed in portable structures that are movable from place to place by a tow or are self-propelled or otherwise axle-mounted, that include self-contained utilities, including, but not limited to, gas, water, electricity or liquid waste disposal.” The term does not include a tent. The bill requires an operator of a public food service establishment who provides commissary services to a temporary commercial kitchen to maintain a registry to verify that each temporary commercial kitchen that receives such services is properly licensed. Also, the bill requires the operator of a temporary commercial kitchen to properly display its public food service establishment license number to assist the public food service establishment in verifying the licensure of the temporary commercial kitchen. The bill allows a mobile food dispensing vehicle or temporary commercial kitchens operated on the same premises of a separately licensed food service establishment to operate during the same hours of operation as the separately licensed food service establishment. Generally, temporary commercial kitchens may not operate in one location for longer than 30 consecutive days. However, the bill allows a licensed food service establishment to operate a temporary commercial kitchen as follows:

•On site for the purpose of supplementing its kitchen operations for 60 consecutive days, with an additional 60-day extension.

•During a period of renovation, repair or rebuilding, on site or off premises within line of sight not exceeding 1,320 feet from the licensed permanent food service establishment, for 120 consecutive days. An extension may be granted if the licensed permanent food service establishment demonstrates that additional time is necessary to complete the renovation, repair or rebuilding.

•If a licensed permanent food service establishment is rendered uninhabitable because of a natural disaster, the establishment may operate a temporary commercial kitchen on site or nearby as reasonably practicable to the establishment’s location, subject to notification to DBPR every 90 days. 

Effective date: July 1, 2023. (Taggart)

CS/CS/SB 262 (Bradley) prohibits employees of a governmental entity from using their position or any state resources to communicate with a social media platform to request that it remove content or accounts. In addition, a governmental entity may not initiate or maintain any agreements with a social media platform for the purpose of content moderation. The prohibitions do not apply to routine account maintenance, attempts to remove accounts or content pertaining to the commission of a crime, or efforts to prevent imminent bodily harm, loss of life or property damage. These provisions take effect on July 1, 2023.

The bill creates a new statute (section 501.1735, Florida Statutes) to provide protection to children in online spaces. Specifically, the bill prohibits online platforms that provide online services, products, games or features that are likely to be predominantly accessed by children from processing or collecting the personal information of children in the various methods described in the bill. A violation of the statute is an unfair and deceptive practice actionable and enforceable by the Department of Legal Affairs (DLA).

The bill creates the “Florida Digital Bill of Rights” to allow the state’s consumers to control the digital flow of their personal information, including the right to: 

•Confirm and access their personal data; 

•Delete, correct or obtain a copy of that personal data; 

•Opt out of the processing of personal data for the purposes of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling in furtherance of a decision that produces a legal or similarly significant effect concerning a consumer; 

•Opt out of the collection of sensitive data; and 

•Opt out of the collection of personal data collected through the operation of a voice recognition feature.

The bill prohibits a device that has a voice or facial recognition feature, video or audio recording features, or other electronic, visual, thermal or olfactory features that collect data from such features from engaging in surveillance when the features are not in active use by a consumer or expressly authorized by the consumer. The bill’s privacy provisions generally apply to “controllers,” businesses that collect Florida consumers’ personal information, make more than $1 billion in gross revenues and meet one of the following thresholds: 

•Derives 50% or more of its global gross annual revenues from advertisements, including from providing targeted advertising or the sale of ads online; 

•Operates a consumer smart speaker and voice command component service with an integrated virtual assistant connected to a cloud computing service that uses hands-free verbal activation; or

•Operates an app store or digital distribution platform that offers at least 250,000 different software applications for consumers to download and install.

The bill specifies several actions that controllers must take in regard to the processing and collection of personal data, including disclosure of the main parameters used in collecting data from an online search engine, assessment of processing activities involving personal data, providing a privacy notice to consumer, and other certain actions relating deidentified data maintained by a controller. The bill also prohibits certain businesses from selling sensitive personal data without receiving prior consent of the consumer, or if the sensitive data is of a known child, without an affirmative authorization for processing that child’s data. The bill requires that a person who engages in the sale of sensitive personal data post a notice on its website of such a potential sale. Finally, the bill provides exemptions for the use of certain data and expresses that restrictions on the collection or retention of data for a particular purpose is prohibited. 

Effective date: July 1, 2024, except as otherwise provided. (Taggart)

CS/SB 210 (Harrell) modifies requirements for licensed substance abuse service providers offering treatment to individuals living in recovery residences. The following substances may not be used on the premises of a provider licensed by the Department of Children and Families (DCF): 

•Alcohol;

•Marijuana, including marijuana certified by a qualified physician for medical use;

•Illegal drugs; and

•Prescription drugs when used by persons other than for whom the medication is prescribed. 

The bill further prohibits referrals from licensed service providers to recovery residences that allow the use of such substances on the premises and requires service providers to provide proof of a prohibition on the use of such substances in applications for licensure with the DCF. Moreover, referrals to a recovery residence must include placement into the licensed housing component of a service provider’s day or night treatment program, regardless of whether the housing component is affiliated with the service provider. This will ensure that all patients referred to a recovery residence are also referred into licensed community housing as part of treatment. The bill makes it a second-degree misdemeanor for any person discharged from a recovery residence to willfully refuse to depart after being warned by an owner or authorized employee of the residence. Additionally, the bill requires the DCF to establish a mechanism for imposing and collecting fines arising from failed recovery residence inspections and improper referrals made by licensed service providers, no later than January 1, 2024.

Effective date: July 1, 2023. (Taggart)

CS/CS/HB 783 (Caruso) creates the Statewide Council on Opioid Abatement (Council) within the Department of Children and Families (DCF) for the purpose of enhancing the development and coordination of state and local efforts to abate the opioid epidemic and to support the victims of the opioid crisis and their families. The bill amends the definitions of “authorized health care practitioner” and “caregiver” in section 381.887, Florida Statutes, to clarify that caregivers need not have recurring contact with persons at risk of an opioid overdose to meet the definition and to include health care practitioners who dispense drugs in the definition of “authorized health care practitioner.” The bill allows pharmacists to prescribe as well as dispense emergency opioid antagonists within the constraints of that section of statute. Additionally, the bill adds emergency opioid antagonists that are delivered through a prefilled injection device delivery system to the types of opioid antagonists that may be prescribed, dispensed, and administered under the section. The bill further requires each Florida College System institution and state university to store a supply of emergency opioid antagonists in each residence hall or dormitory residence owned or operated by the institution. The emergency opioid antagonists must be easily accessible to campus law enforcement officers who are trained in their administration. The bill provides civil or criminal immunity for campus law enforcement officers trained to administer the opioid antagonist as well as for the employing institution when the officer administers or attempts to administer the antagonist in accordance with the bill.

Effective date: July 1, 2023. (Taggart)

HB 1303 (Snyder) create the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Treatment and Housing Task Force within the Department of Children and Families. The bill directs the task force to study issues related to the regulation of treatment providers and the impact of current regulations on the site selection of community residential homes and provide recommended changes. The bill directs the task force to conduct a statewide review of zoning codes to determine the effect of local regulations. The bill exempts all certified recovery residences from state and local zoning laws or ordinances, including all requirements included in Chapter 419, Florida Statutes, which do not apply to all other single-family and multifamily dwellings from July 1, 2023, until July 1, 2026, while the study is conducted. The task force would be required to submit all findings and recommendations to the Department of Children and Families by December 31, 2024. Any future changes to provisions relating to recovery residence credentialing would be adopted by department rule beginning October 1, 2023, rather than legislatively. CS/SB 1010 (Gruters) was substantially amended to remove the creation of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Treatment and Housing Task Force and also removes the three-year exemption from local zoning laws and ordinances. (Taggart)

SB 740 (Brodeur) creates the Statewide Blue Ribbon Task Force on County Realignment within the Department of Economic Opportunity. The task force will study and evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and value of realigning county boundaries in the state. This task force will be comprised of key stakeholders, including one representative from the Florida League of Cities. (Cruz)

HB 849 (Killebrew) and SB 800 (Wright) would prohibit for-profit businesses from selling domestic cats and dogs. The bills do not prohibit a city or county from adopting an ordinance on the sale of animals that is more stringent than the bill. (Taggart)

HB 317 (McFarland) and CS/SB 388 (Bradley), of concern to municipalities, would preempt the regulation of sales or resale of tickets to the state. (Taggart)

HB 397 (Tuck) allows local governments to meet in private with legal counsel, during the 90-day notice period, to discuss claims concerning the Bert Harris Act and private property rights. Transcripts of these private meetings will be made a part of the public record upon settlement of a claim or when the statute of limitation has expired if there is no litigation or settlement. (Cruz)

CS/CS/SB 258 (Burgess) requires governmental entities to block all prohibited applications on government-issued devices (e.g., cell phones, laptops or other electronic devices), restrict access to prohibited applications on a government-issued device, and retain the ability remotely wipe and uninstall any prohibited application from a compromised government-issued device. The term “prohibited application” is defined as any internet application that is created, maintained or owned by a foreign principal of a foreign county of concern and that participates in activities that endanger cybersecurity or any internet application that the Department of Management Services (DMS) deems to present a security risk in the form of an unauthorized access to or temporary unavailability of the public employer’s records, digital assets, systems, networks, servers or information. The bill prohibits any person, including an officer or employee of a public employer, from downloading or accessing a prohibited application on a government-issued device. The prohibition does not apply to a law enforcement officer if the use of the prohibited application is necessary to protect safety or to conduct an investigation within the scope of the officer’s employment. An employee or officer of a public employer may apply to the DMS for a waiver of the prohibition. DMS is tasked with compiling and maintaining a list of prohibited applications and publishing the list on its website. DMS is also required to update the list quarterly and provide notice of any update to public employers. Within 15 days after receiving notice of a list update, an employee or officer of a public employer must remove, delete or uninstall any prohibited application from their government-issued device. DMS must establish procedures for granting or denying waivers applied for by government officials or employees seeking to download or access a prohibited application based on the disclosures required to be made in the waiver application submitted to DMS. 

Effective date: July 1, 2023. (Taggart)

CS/HB 617 (Lopez, V.) and CS/SB 694 (Gruters) require that owners and operators of private property used for motor vehicle parking must have a physical location in Florida, establish parking fees that are equal to that of the local governments and have posted signage that is clearly visible to those parking. Additionally, the bills remove a preemption in current law that prohibits local governments from regulating private parking lots. The bills were amended significantly to remove the provision requiring the owner or operator of a private parking lot to have a physical presence in the state and remove the limitations on what rates the operator may charge. Additionally, the amendment does not remove the current preemption in law but limits the preemption to local regulations on the rates that may be charged by a private parking lot. (Taggart)

HB 519 (Edmonds) and SB 530 (Polsky) would repeal the preemption on the regulation of tobacco and nicotine products. (Taggart)

CS/CS/SB 250 (Martin) makes various changes to existing Florida law regarding the preparation and response activities of state and local government to natural emergencies. Specifically, the bill provides that following a declared natural emergency as defined in section 252.34(8), a county or municipality may not prohibit the placement of a temporary shelter (including but not limited to a recreational vehicle, a trailer or similar structure on a residential property) for up to 36 months or until a certificate of occupancy is issued on the permanent residential structure, on the property, whichever occurs first, if certain conditions are met including:

•The resident makes a good faith effort to rebuild or renovate the damaged property, such as applying for a building permit, submitting a plan or design to the county or municipality, or applying for a construction loan;

•The temporary shelter is connected to water and electric utilities and does not present a danger to health or human safety; and

•The resident lives in the temporary shelter. 

The bill requires the Division of Emergency Management (DEM) to post on its website a model debris removal contract for the benefit of local governments (this provision is effective upon becoming law). In addition, the bill requires DEM to prioritize technical assistance and training to fiscally constrained counties on aspects of preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation (also effective upon becoming law). The bill encourages local governments to create emergency financial plans in preparation for major natural disasters. The bill also authorizes local governments to create specialized building inspection teams following a natural disaster and encourages interlocal agreements for additional building inspection services during a state of emergency. Local governments are required to expedite the issuance of building permits following a natural disaster. The bill increases the extension of certain building permits following a declaration of a state of emergency from six to 24 months and caps such extension at 48 months in the event of multiple natural emergencies. Effective upon becoming law, the bill prohibits counties and municipalities within the disaster declaration for Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Nicole from increasing building fees until October 1, 2024.

Effective upon becoming law, registered contractors can engage in contracting for the types of work covered by their registration within areas for which a state of emergency has been declared. The bill prohibits counties and municipalities within 100 miles of Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Nicole's landfall from adopting more restrictive or burdensome procedures to their comprehensive plans or land development regulations concerning review, approval or issuance of a site plan, development permit or development order before October 1, 2024. Furthermore, such counties and municipalities may not propose or adopt a moratorium on construction, reconstruction or redevelopment of any property damaged by Hurricane Ian or Nicole. The bill also extends the date for fire control districts within 50 miles of Hurricane Ian’s landfall to submit statutorily required performance reviews. The amends the Consultants’ Competitive Negotiation Act to allow for additional disaster-related construction projects relating to Hurricane Ian to utilize the “continuing contracts” provision through December 31, 2023. The bill makes the Local Government Emergency Bridge Loan Program a revolving program and makes funds available for local governments impacted by federally declared disasters until July 1, 2038, appropriates $50 million in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund to the program for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, and authorizes $50 million of funds appropriated in special session to a previous version of the program to be transferred and used for this program. The bill clarifies the 45-day grace period following a hurricane in which owners must bring a derelict vessel into compliance before being charged with a violation. The bill directs DEM to administer a revolving loan program for local government hazard mitigation projects and appropriates $1 million in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund and $10 million in nonrecurring funds from the Federal Grants Trust Fund for such activity during the 2023-2024 fiscal year. Finally, the bill shields public utilities from liability for damages arising from changes in reliability, continuity or quality of services stemming from an emergency or disaster.

Effective date: July 1, 2023, except as otherwise provided. (Branch)

CS/CS/SB 718 (Yarborough) revises procedures for municipal annexation and contraction and local government initiatives and referenda. It identifies the “report” that must be prepared prior to annexation or contraction as a “feasibility” study conducted by qualified staff or consultants and provides that such study must analyze the economic, market, technical, financial and management feasibility of a proposed annexation or contraction. The bill removes the requirement for contractions that a municipality provide specific findings when rejecting a petition from voters requesting exclusion from municipal boundaries. It also specifies that a governing body’s rejection of a petition for contraction is a legislative decision. For instances in which more than 70% of the acres proposed for contraction are owned by private entities that are not registered electors, the bill specifies that the owners of a majority of the acreage consent to the contraction. This change applies to contraction petitions filed on or after July 1, 2023. Lastly, the bill prohibits local governments from requiring an initiative and referendum process for amending land development regulations.  

Effective date: July 1, 2023. (Cruz)

CS/SB 1096 (Martin) and CS/HB 1607 (Black) 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. The bills provide legal standing to any resident of this state to bring a civil action against any person or entity for damaging a monument or memorial displayed on public property. The bills clarify that these provisions do not prevent an agency from relocating a monument or memorial when necessary for the construction, expansion or alteration of publicly owned buildings, roadways or other transportation projects. The agency must relocate the monument or memorial to a site of similar prominence, honor and visibility within the same jurisdiction. (Taggart)

CS/CS/HB 1383 (Trabulsy) addresses occupation licensing by local governments, which the Legislature passed in 2021. The bill extends by one year (from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2024) the authority of local governments to continue licensing local occupations that were licensed on or before January 1, 2021. The bill requires the state’s Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB) to establish, by July 1, 2024, voluntary certified specialty contractor licensing in the following categories: 

•Structural aluminum or screen enclosures 

•Marine seawall work 

•Marine bulkhead work

•Marine dock work 

•Marine pile driving 

•Structural masonry 

•Structural prestressed, precast concrete work 

•Rooftop solar heating installation 

•Structural steel 

•Window and door installation, including garage door installation and hurricane or windstorm protection

•Plaster and lath 

•Structural carpentry. 

The bill prohibits a local government from requiring a license issued by a local government or CILB to perform a job scope that does not substantially correspond to one of the state’s contractor or specialty contractor categories. A local government may continue to offer licensing for veneer, including aluminum or vinyl gutters, siding, soffit or fascia; rooftop painting, coating and cleaning above three stories in height; or fence installation and erection, if the local government imposed such a licensing requirement before January 1, 2021. In addition, the bill allows a county located in an area designated as an area of critical state concern (e.g., Monroe County) to offer licensing for any job scope that requires a contractor license under this part if the county imposed such a licensing requirement before January 1, 2021. Lastly, a local government may not require a license as a prerequisite to submit a bid for public work projects if the work to be performed does not require a license under general law. 

Effective date: July 1, 2023. (Branch)

SB 920 (DiCeglie) prohibits a local government from denying a request for a variance or an exception if the local floodplain management requirements exceed the minimum standards for the National Flood Insurance Program. (Branch)

HB 169 (Lopez) and CS/SB 314 (Rodriguez) require employers of first responders to pay for up to 12 hours of licensed counseling following a work-related traumatic event. This benefit would be in addition to any potential workers' compensation claim or counseling services covered by health insurance. Covered first responders include firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and law enforcement officers, including those working on a volunteer basis. The bills also hold the employing agency responsible for paying for up to an additional 24 hours of treatment if a mental health specialist finds that the first responder requires more hours of counseling. CS/SB 314 was amended to cap the cost of employer-paid counseling at $500 per hour. The bill was also further expanded to include correctional officers. (Cruz)

CS/CS/HB 807 (Borrero) and SB 1700 (DiCeglie) would 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. CS/CS/HB 807 was amended to exclude public-use airports and vehicles used to transport handicap individuals. (Branch)