New Florida laws take effect July 1: Here’s what to know

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – There are nearly 90 new laws that are going into effect on July 1, 2026, in Florida.

Everything from tougher penalties for those who exploit children to allowing students to substitute certain requirements for physical education and performing arts credits to achieve their high school diplomas. Here’s what to know.

New Florida Laws

Criminal Justice and Safety

HB 35:

Habitual Traffic Offenders: Adds driving without a valid license to the specific list of offenses that trigger “habitual traffic offender” status.

HB 177:

Offices of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel: If an agency is unable to defend a broke individual facing the death penalty due to a conflict, this bill allows the court to assign another regional state agency to the case before resorting to a more expensive private attorney, provided that new office is willing and the original venue doesn’t change.

HB 199:

Veterans Affairs: This bill makes it easier for eligible veterans and servicemembers to enter a specialized treatment court by letting the judge—rather than a state prosecutor—decide who gets in, while also allowing those who committed nonviolent felonies to join the program as a condition of their probation.

HB 245:

Child Pornography Terminology: This bill replaces the legal term “child pornography” with “child sexual abuse material” to better emphasize that the children involved are victims, without changing how the actual crimes are defined, proven, or prosecuted under existing laws.

HB 271:

Foreign and Alien Bail Bond Insurers: This bill requires out-of-state and international bail bond companies operating in Florida to follow the same financial reporting rules as local companies, meaning they must now give the state a detailed breakdown of their exact earnings, fees, and taxes.

HB 277:

Domestic Violence and Protective Injunctions: This bill strengthens domestic violence laws by increasing criminal penalties for repeat offenders, raising financial aid for victims, and launching a two-year electronic monitoring pilot program in Florida to track certain offenders on probation.

HB 445:

Dangerous Crimes: Adds certain computer pornography and child exploitation offenses to Florida’s “dangerous crimes” list, severely impacting pretrial release and bail options.

HB 477:

Drug Paraphernalia: Updates legal definitions and enforcement boundaries regarding illicit drug paraphernalia.

HB 559:

Animal Welfare: This bill makes it a third-degree felony for adults to involve minors in severe animal abuse, requires underage offenders to get court-ordered psychological help at their parents’ expense, increases penalties for animal fighting, and expands Florida’s public animal abuser database to track offenders for up to ten years.

HB 565:

Agency for Persons with Disabilities: This new law expands state disability services to include people with Tatton-Brown-Rahman syndrome, requires background checks for all residential and day-program employees, and orders a thorough review to improve the quality of support coordination across the state.

SB 212:

Sexual Offenders and Sexual Predators: This bill tightens restrictions on convicted sex offenders by banning them from living, working, or loitering near places where children gather—specifically adding public pools to the restricted list—while expanding police power to make warrantless arrests for violations.

SB 296:

Domestic Violence Alert System: Commissions a state feasibility study to implement a specialized domestic and dating violence 911 alert system.

SB 298:

Public Records/Victims of Domestic and Dating Violence: This bill protects the personal information—such as addresses, phone numbers, and Social Security numbers—of dating violence victims who join the state’s confidentiality program, keeping their voter and public records private except under special circumstances.

SB 418:

Autism Spectrum Disorder / Law Enforcement: Establishes standardized criteria for how law enforcement officers interact with and identify individuals on the autism spectrum.

SB 436:

Felony Battery: Re-evaluates tracking and sentencing guidelines for aggravated or felony battery offenses.

HB 491:

Faith-based Intervention Content: Authorizes the inclusion of faith-based content and curricula within state-approved intervention programs for domestic violence batterers.

SB 590:

Statute of Limitations: Extends the state’s prosecution timeline for individuals who fail to report suspected child abuse, neglect, or sexual abuse.

SB 656:

Internet Crimes Against Children: Updates and renames state grant programs dedicated to fighting online exploitation targeting minors.

SB 820:

Problem-solving Court Reports: This bill requires all 182 collaborative, judge-monitored “problem-solving” courts across the state to report additional performance data—such as treatment compliance and program completion rates—by specific deadlines to help measure how well they are working.

K-12 & Post-secondary Education

HB 178:

School Athletics & Funding: Allows high school coaches to utilize personal funds, up to strict caps, to financially support student athletes in need.

HB 453:

High School Diploma Alternatives: Provides alternative credit pathways for students, allowing approved substitutions for mandatory physical education (PE) and performing arts credits.

HB 538:

Extracurricular Activities: Revises state compliance rules regarding student participation eligibility and coach compensation structures.

HB 561:

Educator Preparation & Return: Eases the regulatory pathway for teachers with expired licenses to renew credentials and return to active classrooms to combat shortages.

HB 1115:

Genetic Counseling Education: Sets up state-backed grants to expand postsecondary educational programs in genetic counseling.

SB 124:

Florida Virtual School: This bill updates how the Florida Virtual School (FLVS) is run by removing priority enrollment for specific groups since the school can now serve everyone, expanding the board’s hiring and contracting powers, simplifying annual reporting, ensuring all students count toward state funding, and requiring local school districts to provide staff to monitor FLVS students during statewide testing.

SB 182:

Teacher Mentors: Establishes a formalized teacher training and peer-mentoring framework heavily targeted at struggling public schools.

SB 824:

School District Unimproved Real Property: Every year, school districts must give the state a detailed list of all the empty land they own. The state will then combine these lists into a public report to see how much unused land schools are holding onto across the state.

SB 1246:

Linking Industry to Nursing Education (LINE): Expands the existing LINE fund to broadly target critical healthcare and science workforce shortages.

HB 1279:

Education Omnibus: Implements various administrative changes across the state university system and the Department of Education.

SB 1690:

Child Care and Early Learning Services: This bill updates Florida’s child care laws by requiring more public transparency for all daycare facilities, protecting in-home providers from insurance discrimination, and setting up new funding and training programs to support early childhood education.

Health Care & Human Services

HB 47:

Secondary Medical Evaluation for Child Removals: This bill allows the Department of Children and Families to temporarily delay reporting abuse allegations to police if a child has—or is being tested for—certain preexisting medical conditions (like brittle bones) that could mimic signs of abuse, while requiring investigators to collect medical records and consult specialists or allow second medical opinions to ensure a fair investigation.

HB 89:

Veterinary Prescription Disclosure: This bill requires vet clinics to clearly inform you—via conversation, a signed form, and a posted sign—that you have the right to fill your pet’s prescription at any pharmacy you choose or at the clinic itself, except in emergencies or for certain restricted controlled substances.

HB 253:

Veterans Dental Care Grant Program Expansion: The bill expands eligibility for the Veterans Dental Care Grant Program established within the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs. The bill effectively requires veterans to have an income of up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level to be eligible for the program. The department set the current program eligibility to veterans with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level by administrative rule.

HB 355:

Pediatric Patient Protection: Standardizes explicit pediatric care readiness protocols across all hospital emergency departments.

HB 569:

Forensic Client Services: Grants the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) permission to co-house forensic and non-forensic clients in the same secure facilities under specific safety conditions.

HB 1175:

Office Surgery Suites: Elevates safety and regulatory compliance standards for medical facilities performing localized, in-office surgical procedures.

HB 1347:

Clinical Laboratory Personnel: This bill makes it easier for lab workers to get licensed in Florida by accepting standard federal qualifications instead of requiring extra state-specific tests, while ensuring currently licensed workers remain fully qualified.

HB 1443:

Statewide Parkinson’s Disease Registry: Creates a mandatory statewide database to securely track diagnoses, requiring annual demographic reporting to assist clinical research.

SB 192:

Patient Funds Held in Trust by Chiropractic Physicians: This bill removes the $1,500 limit on upfront payments for chiropractic care, allowing chiropractors to collect any amount in advance without facing penalties from their licensing board.

SB 340:

Human Trafficking Education for Nurse Licensure: To get their nursing license, new graduates applying on or after July 1, 2027, must first take a mandatory two-hour course on human trafficking before they can sit for their licensing exam.

SB 428:

Drowning Prevention: This bill changes the Swimming Lesson Voucher Program to cover children aged one to seven (instead of four and under) to help prevent drowning, while also requiring that all new parents receive educational materials on water and bath safety after giving birth.

SB 578:

Alzheimer’s Awareness: Launches a targeted, statewide public health awareness initiative regarding Alzheimer’s Disease.

SB 816 :

Diabetes Research: This bill officially establishes the University of Florida Diabetes Institute as a statewide hub to research cures, provide advanced patient care, train healthcare workers, and launch community health programs, though its actual startup depends on securing funding.

SB 844:

Sickle Cell Disease Education: Mandates that controlled-substance continuing education courses for Florida medical professionals include specific instruction on managing severe pain associated with Sickle Cell Disease.

SB 867:

Dry Needling for Occupational Therapists: Explicitly authorizes licensed occupational therapists in Florida to perform “dry needling” procedures, provided they meet strict state-mandated training and credentialing standards

HB 1405 :

Missing Persons with Special Needs: Funds and optimizes a statewide tracking and recovery project for missing individuals with unique special needs or cognitive conditions.

HB 1515:

Pub. Rec./Uterine Fibroid Research Database: This bill protects the privacy of women in the Uterine Fibroid Research Database by keeping their personal information hidden from the public until October 2, 2031, unless lawmakers vote to extend the law.

Environment, Land Use, Transportation & Local Government

HB 33:

Transportation Facility Designations: This bill directs the Florida Department of Transportation to put up signs renaming specific sections of two South Florida roads as “Charlie Kirk Memorial Avenue” and “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.”

HB 967:

Electronic Payments Made to Units of Local Governments: Electronic Payments Made to Units of Local Governments; Requires units of local government to accept certain forms of payments; requires such local governments accept payments online.

HB 167 :

Former Phosphate Mining Lands: This bill protects owners of former phosphate mines from being automatically held responsible for natural geological pollution or radiation on their land, provided the property is officially recorded as an old mine and has been surveyed by the Department of Health, while also requiring anyone suing over mining-related pollution to include an official radiation survey with their lawsuit.

HB 399:

Land Use & Development Regulations: Significantly restricts local governments’ ability to block or tightly regulate land development and affordable housing projects.

HB 425:

Historic Cemeteries Program: Permits local municipalities to rezone excess land surrounding historic African-American cemeteries to fund and support ongoing maintenance.

HB 441 :

Conservation Lands: Updates state guidelines on the acquisition and tracking of environmental conservation acreage.

HB 589:

Onsite Sewage & Septic Permits: Alters the regulatory permitting system for onsite sewage treatment and disposal setups.

HB 1093:

Vertiports and PPP Funding: This bill allows Florida to use public-private partnerships and state transportation funds to build and support “vertiports”—landing areas and charging stations for next-generation, vertical-takeoff aircraft—including covering up to 100% of the costs if federal funding isn’t available.

HB 1217:

Greenhouse Gas Prohibitions: Explicitly bans Florida state, county, and municipal government entities from adopting or enforcing “net-zero” greenhouse gas policies.

SB 246:

Specialty License Plates: This bill allows the state to create several new specialty license plates—including options for the UFC, local schools, and the military academies—while also loosening restrictions on the Fraternal Order of Police plate and requiring stricter financial tracking for the organizations behind them.

SB 302:

Coastal Resiliency: Adjusts state-funded infrastructure protocols regarding coastal erosion and sea-level rise mitigation.

SB 504:

Code Inspector Body Cameras: Mandates formal operational policies, data handling, and storage requirements for local governments that equip code enforcement officers with body cameras.

SB 506:

Public Records/Body Cameras: Accompanies SB 504, creating public records exemptions for code enforcement footage captured inside private residences or healthcare facilities.

SB 584:

Commercial Driving Schools: This bill allows the state DMV to partner with local county tax collectors, giving them the authority to inspect commercial driving schools, demand their paperwork, and ban them from tax collector property if they engage in fraudulent or disruptive behavior that compromises the driver’s licensing process.

SB 594:

Local Housing Assistance Plans: Modifies administrative requirements for local governments allocating affordable housing assistance funds.

SB 628:

Transportation Facility Designations: This bill renames several Florida roads and an airport to honor specific people, extends the length of the “President Donald J. Trump Highway” across multiple counties, and updates the location of a dedicated highway interchange to match recent construction.

SB 686:

Agricultural Enclaves: This bill allows owners of isolated farming lands (in counties with fewer than 1.75 million people) to more easily convert their property into neighborhood housing matching the surrounding area, though these new rules will expire and reset by January 1, 2028.

SB 848:

Stormwater Treatment: Updates state standards governing local municipal stormwater treatment systems.

HB 1019:

PFAS Contamination: Updates tracking methods and environmental standards for monitoring perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (forever chemicals).

HB 1103:

Local Vessel Restrictions: Dictates how and where local municipal authorities can enforce boating and watercraft speed/zone restrictions.

HB 1245 & HB 1285:

Biosolids Management: A dual package of laws overhauling the processing, transport, and agricultural utilization of human waste biosolids.

HB 1417:

Department of Environmental Protection: Streamlines administrative operations and enforcement powers within the DEP.

Business, Utilities & Consumer Protections

SB 422:

Automatic Dependent Surveillance-broadcasts: This bill stops airports from using automated tracking systems to charge small, private aircraft (under 12,500 pounds) for landing, taking off, or just flying into their airspace.

SB 484:

Data Center Utility Safeguards: Prevents commercial utility companies from passing the massive infrastructure and power costs of data centers onto standard residential or small business consumers.

SB 598:

Funeral and Cemetery Services: Gives funeral homes legal authority to cremate or dispose of unclaimed human remains that have been in their lawful possession for at least 90 days if family or designated representatives fail to act. It also bans funeral homes from signing exclusive sole-provider contracts with end-of-life healthcare facilities.

HB 655:

Pub. Rec. and Pub. Meetings/Attorney Meetings to Discuss Private Property Rights Claims: This bill allows local governments to meet privately with their lawyers to discuss property-value claims before a lawsuit is filed, keeping the records of those meetings confidential until the dispute is fully resolved.

HB 131:

Curators of Estates: This bill gives courts more flexibility to appoint temporary caretakers (called curators) to look after a deceased person’s estate, while also requiring those caretakers to protect the assets with a financial bond and report their actions to the court when necessary.

HB 625:

Justice Administrative Commission: This bill expands the state’s legal support agency from four to seven members by adding a private defense lawyer, a judge, and another state prosecutor to the team that manages financial and administrative assistance for Florida’s public legal offices and court-appointed attorneys.

HB 697:

Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs): Enforces strict limits and caps on how PBMs calculate prescription drug costs and reimburse local pharmacies.

HB 1407:

Civil Actions & Discrimination Timing: Streamlines the Florida Civil Rights Act by adjusting filing timelines. Claims must be brought within 1 year of a state determination, or capped strictly at 18 months if no administrative determination is reached.

SB 52:

Security Services at Places of Worship: Clarifies that state security licensing laws do not apply to uncompensated volunteers providing armed security at churches, mosques, or synagogues.

SB 288:

Rural Electric Cooperatives: Senate Bill 288 prevents rural electric cooperatives that sell retail power from passing rules, charging extra fees, or taking actions that limit a customer’s choice of energy sources or gas appliances, like stoves and grills.

SB 290:

Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: This legislation protects gas-powered lawn and farm equipment from local bans, requires formal developer check-offs before building on environmentally sensitive land, launches a student loan payoff program to bring more livestock veterinarians to rural areas, and updates the state forestry service’s rules.

SB 386:

Farm Equipment Lemon Law: Protects agricultural operations by setting a strict limit (3 failed repair attempts) before a piece of heavy farm machinery qualifies as a “lemon.”

SB 679:

Registration of Trademarks: This bill modernizes Florida’s trademark process by matching federal classification standards, replacing required paper and notary applications with an updated online registration system by the end of 2027, and allowing electronic verification and digital proof of the trademark.

SB 772:

Eyewear Insurance: Expands existing portable electronics insurance frameworks to legally encompass eyewear insurance policies.

SB 800:

Engineering Violations: Establishes escalating civil fines for individuals found guilty of repeat, unlicensed engineering practices.

SB 1030:

Recovery Residences: This bill updates rules for state-regulated addiction treatment providers by clarifying ownership transfers, narrowing deep background checks to only top executives during sales, and exempting violation-free providers from forced patient admissions when expanding their services.

SB 1614:

Enforcement of the Florida Building Code: This bill closes a specific loophole regarding how local governments can spend leftover money collected from building permit and inspection fees. Moving forward, cities and counties can no longer use that excess cash to build new government offices to house their building department.

Government Administration, Courts & Military

HB 249:

Designation of Official State Flagship – The bill redesignates the state flagship. Instead of the schooner Western Union, the bill designates the S.S. American Victory as the official state flagship.

HB 145:

Claims Against the Government: Modifies the legal procedures and caps associated with filing civil claims against municipal or state entities.

HB 925:

Clerks of the Court: Adjusts administrative duties, fee collections, and operational funding mechanics for Florida’s county court clerks.

HB 1337:

Estates & Small Estate Procedures: Simplifies and updates probate courts’ small estate settlement processes and personal representative authority.

HB 1343:

Insurance Customer Representative Licensing Qualifications: This bill allows Florida high school graduates to work as supervised insurance customer representatives immediately after graduation, provided they completed a new half-credit high school course in insurance and personal finance, bypassing the traditional college or professional certification requirements.

HB 1451:

Utility Services:This bill protects out-of-city customers by lowering their utility rates, requiring public meetings and annual state reporting for municipal utilities, and directly overruling a local Gainesville vote to ensure state control over regional utility authorities.

SB 474:

Military Affairs – Expands state employment leave protections and financial assistance eligibility for active military service members and their families.

SB 984:

Firefighter Benefits: Expands death and disability benefit eligibility requirements for first responders diagnosed with cancer.

SB 1602:

Housing for Veterans: This bill creates a Florida pilot program in four specific counties that pays landlords to hold vacant housing for veterans for up to 45 days and provides up to $2,000 to cover property damage beyond the security deposit.