Several new Florida laws take effect Wednesday, including fewer restrictions for homeowners, new rules for data centers and education changes.
Homeowners will no longer need to secure a permit for work they have done on their homes valued at less than $7,500 under Senate Bill 803. Local governments may still require a permit for electrical, plumbing, mechanical, gas, or structural work, but for other projects under $7,500, owners will only need to submit a written request for exemption.
Local governments are now prohibited from restricting residents from using gas-powered farm or landscape equipment. Senate Bill 290 guarantees residents the right to use gas leaf blowers, lawn mowers, trimmers, chainsaws, and other similar equipment.
Senate Bill 484 ensures large scale data centers will pay their own electric costs and prevents those costs from being passed down to nearby residents or small businesses. It also enshrines local governments’ rights to retain zoning, planning, and land development authority regarding data centers.
Consumer protections for pets now in effect under Senate Bill 1004 include a mandate for pet dealers to disclose all financing terms to a consumer and terminate any pet financing fees without penalty to the buyer if the animal turns out to be unfit for purchase due to illness or disease.
It also removes a previous limit on the amount of veterinary costs an owner can seek from a pet seller related to the discovery of a disease or defect.
House Bill 905, also known as the Foreign Interference Restriction and Enforcement Act, limits foreign influence on government operations by prohibiting public officers, employees, local government attorneys and candidates from soliciting or accepting contributions from a foreign country of concern or a designated foreign terrorist organization.
The bill bans state agencies, local governments, and public schools from accepting grants from foreign countries of concern.
A bill that garnered some pushback when it was moving through the legislature was House Bill 1471, which gives power to the Florida Attorney General to designate organizations as foreign terrorist or domestic terrorist organizations.
Students could face expulsion if they are found to be promoting groups that have been designated as terrorist organizations. Critics said the rule could give the government too much power to politically target groups. The rule does provide a path for groups to challenge the designation.
Senate Bill 182 brings some education changes. Schools are now required to include cursive writing instruction in grades 2 through 5 and require each student to be proficient in reading and writing cursive by the end of fifth grade.
School district boards must display portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and the Department of Education must select the portraits and make them available to each school district.
