Bills Signed by Governor DeSantis
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS Florida’s Fair Housing Act was amended to prohibit discrimination in rental housing for persons with disabilities who require an emotional support animal. It also details what is acceptable documentation for an emotional support animal and lays out penalties for individuals falsifying documentation.
INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS The Florida Department of Transportation, in consultation with the Florida Department of Emergency Management, will be in charge of determining emergency response staging areas on the Florida Turnpike. The Florida Public Service Commission, along with FDOT and the Department of Agriculture, must also develop a plan for electric vehicle charging station infrastructure along the state highway system.
PURPLE HEART MEMORIAL HIGHWAY The entire section of Interstate 95 from Nassau County to Miami-Dade County will be designated the Purple Heart Memorial Highway. Several other road designations were included in a comprehensive bill. Expect to see road markers in the future.
SALES TAX HOLIDAYS Part of the approved tax package includes a seven-day sales tax “holiday” for disaster supplies before the hurricane season and a three-day tax holiday in August for purchases of back-to-school clothes, supplies and personal computers.
TOBACCO AND NICOTINE PRODUCTS If the Governor signs this legislation, the age to purchase tobacco products would increase to 21. The bill identifies e-cigarettes and vaping products as “tobacco products” and raises the age to purchase any tobacco product, including dip and chew, and e-cigarettes, from 18 to 21.
SPECIALTY LICENSE TAGS After four years of reworking the State’s specialty license plate program, an agreement was reached between the Senate and House after the Divine Nine plate was added to the list of 150 options. The threshold for issuance of a new tag is 3,000 pre-sales rather than the previous 1,000 within a two-year period. Any out-of-state colleges and university tags must maintain annual sales of 4,000. Fleet companies and dealers are now eligible for specialty plates.
SHARK FIN BAN The “Kristin Jacobs Ocean Conservation Act,” named in honor of its sponsor Representative Kristin Jacobs (D-Coconut Creek), who died from cancer on April 11th, prohibits the import, export, and sale of shark fins in Florida. The bill was amended to allow fishermen who held a valid federal shark fishing permit on January 1, 2020 to continue to do so.