Florida has 24 new laws that went into effect on Oct. 1
TALLAHASSEE
Stricter penalties for ripping off military veterans and new guidelines for specialty license plates were among 24 laws that went into effect on Thursday after being passed during the 2020 legislative session.
The changes are among 206 bills that cleared the House and Senate. Of those bills, 201, were signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Most of the new laws went into effect July 1, the start of the state’s fiscal year.
Among the measures that became law on Thursday:
HB 1135, which revises the state’s specialty license plate program. That includes expanding the potential number of designs from 123 to 150 and requiring a minimum of 1,000 sales before new specialty plates can move forward and existing plates can remain in circulation. The bill also creates plates for the University of Alabama, the University of Georgia and Auburn University and establishes a “super tag” template for nine black fraternities and sororities dubbed the “Divine 9.”
HB 205, which expands a portion of state law designed to prevent people
The Florida Legislature enacted laws that affect veterans, specialty license plates and people convicted of sex crimes.
from misrepresenting service in the military. The bill makes it a third-degree felony to use such misrepresentations to land jobs or political offices.
SB 294, which creates the Florida Veterans Protection Act to make it a firstdegree felony to obtain or attempt to swindle $50,000 or more from 10 or more military veterans.
SB 680, which expands a 2017 law that increased
penalties for people who remove fins from sharks and discard the rest of the sharks in the ocean. The new law bans the import, export and sale of shark fins but includes exceptions for people who already had federal shark-fishing permits as of Jan. 1 and seafood dealers who had federal shark-dealer permits. Shark fins are considered a delicacy in parts of Asia.
HB 333, which prohibits courts from granting bail to adult defendants who are appealing convictions in cases that require registering as sexual offenders or sexual predators and in which the victims were minors.
HB 675, which allows law enforcement officers to make warrantless arrests for indecent exposure. Currently, officers need to have witnessed the incidents of indecent exposure or obtain warrants to make arrests.
HB 133, which makes changes related to towing vessels and vehicles. In part, the bill requires local governments to set maximum rates for towing and immobilizing vessels. It also prohibits counties and cities from imposing fees on wrecker operators or towing businesses.
HB 915, which expands state oversight of 20 commercial service airports, including requiring audits every seven years at the Orlando, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa international airports.