Watercraft Restrictions Based on Energy Source; Authorizes state agencies, governmental entities, & local governments to restrict use of watercraft based on energy source used to power watercraft if such watercraft is used on certain bodies of water.
Task Force on Payment Scams; Creating the Task Force on Payment Scams adjunct to the Department of Financial Services; defining the terms “payment” and “task force”; requiring the Chief Financial Officer to establish the task force by a specified date; providing for future repeal and legislative review of the task force, etc.
Pub. Rec./Injunctions for Protection in Cases of Repeat or Serious Violence; Provides exemption from public records requirements for petitions, & contents thereof, for injunctions for protection against serious violence by known person; provides exemption from public records requirements for information that can be used to identify petitioner or respondent in such petition for injunction; provides statement of public necessity.
Public Records/Commissioners of the Florida Commission on Human Relations; Providing an exemption from public records requirements for the personal identifying and location information of certain current or former personnel and commissioners of the Florida Commission on Human Relations and the spouses and children of such current or former personnel and commissioners; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of public necessity, etc.
Limitation on the Assessed Value of Property Owned and Used for Commercial Purposes by Small Businesses; Proposing amendments to the State Constitution to limit the assessed value of real property owned and used for commercial purposes by a small business for ad valorem taxation purposes so that such assessed value may not exceed 3 percent or the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower, and to provide an effective date, etc.
School Zone and Pedestrian Safety; Requiring that design and construction plans for the installation of crosswalks in school zones or on certain streets, roads, or highways include certain traffic control devices, etc.
Motor Vehicle Operator Privacy; Prohibits certain personal information & e-mail addresses from being sold to or shared with third-party company, foreign country of concern, or foreign principal; provides for retroactive application; provides penalties for third-party company that uses or releases certain information for specified purpose.
Right of Medical Conscience of Health Care Providers and Health Care Payors; Authorizing a health care provider or health care payor to commence certain civil actions if the Attorney General does not commence a civil action within a specified timeframe for an alleged violation of the provider’s or payor’s right of medical conscience, etc.
Patriotic Displays at Public Schools; Requiring, subject to legislative appropriation, each district school board to adopt rules to require the display of portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln at each public school in the district; requiring the Department of Education to select the portraits and make them available to each school district, etc.
Physician Assistants; Providing for the registration of physician assistants to engage in practice without physician supervision; providing financial responsibility requirements for registered physician assistants; specifying activities registered physician assistants may engage in without physician supervision; requiring registered physician assistants to provide new patients with specified information either before or during the initial patient encounter, etc.
Legal Notices; Revising the definition of the term “governmental agency”; requiring that certain legal notices be continuously published for a specified timeframe when the notices are for a specified purpose and provided under a certain circumstance; authorizing certain counties or specified municipalities, school boards, clerks of the circuit court, and tax collectors to use a publicly accessible website to publish certain advertisements and legal notices under specified conditions, etc.
HB 489 updates definitions used by Florida's Housing Finance Corporation to clarify eligibility for affordable housing programs. It defines key terms like "demonstrated capacity" (requiring completion of at least three U.S. affordable housing projects, including one in Florida, within five years) and "qualifying principal" (a person owning 25%+ of a housing entity). The bill also clarifies that "elderly" means 62+ and ensures housing meeting specific criteria qualifies as elderly housing. These changes directly affect housing providers (both nonprofits and for-profits) seeking to develop or manage affordable housing projects funded through the corporation.
