Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Below is a high-level update on the five most significant bills and issues that occurred during the 2023 Florida Legislative session’s fourth week, March 27-31.

Live Local Act Signed by Governor

SB 102, entitled the Live Local Act, was signed by Governor DeSantis last week. The bill aims to boost current and new affordable workforce housing projects in the state through increased state funding and new property tax incentives. The bill would also prevent local governments from enacting rent controls. For more information, please see our alert on the Live Local Act.

House and Senate Budgets Ready for Consideration

House and Senate Appropriations Committees unanimously approved their respective spending plans for the 2023-24 fiscal year last week, setting up the proposals for consideration on the floor by each chamber today. The $113 billion House proposal, HB 5001, is about $700 million less than the Senate's proposed $113.7 billion spending plan, SB 2500. Both proposals are less than the nearly $115 billion the Governor recommended. Differences will be addressed during the upcoming budget conference process.

Permitless Concealed Carry Signed by Governor

The Senate passed HB 543 on Friday and the bill was signed by Governor DeSantis this morning. The bill would allow people to carry concealed weapons in Florida without a permit. The bill also includes measures meant to improve school safety by requiring local law enforcement to develop assailant response plans and for schools to form threat assessment teams. The bill becomes effective July 1, 2023, except as otherwise expressly provided in the act. 

House Condo Bill Advances

The House Regulatory Reform and Economic Development Subcommittee reported HB 1395 favorably. The bill makes changes to the "milestone" inspection process created last year for condominium buildings three stories or higher in response to the Surfside collapse. It would allow certain building code inspectors, administrators and general contractors to do the initial visual inspections on buildings if an architect or engineer is not available. The bill also requires milestone inspections on all condominiums that are at least 25 years old unless a local government requires one to be done sooner or grants an extension. SB 154, the Senate companion, is ready for consideration by the full Senate.

Data Privacy Bills Moving

Last week, HB 1547 was reported favorably by the House Regulatory Reform & Economic Development Subcommittee, its first committee of reference. The bill gives consumers rights related to personal information collected including the right to access personal information collected, to delete or correct personal information and to opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information. The bill is limited to companies with over $1 billion in gross annual revenues and either derive 50% of revenue from targeted advertising or operate a consumer smart speaker and voice command component service. The Senate companion, SB 262, will be heard this week in the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee.

I would be happy to speak with you regarding issues this session that could impact your business. For more information, please contact me.

Warmly,