Sen. Joe Gruters

Specialty Contracting Services; Revising the types of buildings for which individuals who are not required to obtain certain registrations or certifications may perform contracting services without a local license under certain circumstances; authorizing certain persons under the supervision of specified licensed contractors to perform certain specialty contracting services for commercial or residential swimming pools, hot tubs or spas, or interactive water features; providing that such supervision does not require a direct contract between those persons, etc.

Education; Authorizing district school boards to conduct daily business in person or through the use of telecommunication networks; deleting a requirement that certain contact with parents and students be made by telephone; exempting academically high-performing school districts from complying with a specified provision relating to the operation of all schools for a term of 180 actual teaching days; authorizing academically high-performing school districts to provide up to 2 days of virtual instruction, etc.

Charter Schools; Revising requirements for the charter school application process; revising provisions relating to the opening of additional high-performing charter schools; authorizing a virtual charter school to provide part-time virtual instruction and be an approved provider; authorizing a virtual charter school to contract with a public or charter school, rather than enter into an agreement with a school district, for specified purposes, etc.

Sarasota County Day; Recognizing May 14, 2021, as “Sarasota County Day” in Florida in honor of the 100th anniversary of the creation of Sarasota County, etc.

Financial Institutions; Providing that the failure of foreign nationals to appear through video conference at certain hearings is grounds for denial of certain applications; providing that the imposition of fees or charges upon consumers for online audit verifications of financial institution accounts is a violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act; revising the interval for the Office of Financial Regulation to conduct certain examinations; authorizing the Office of Financial Regulation to delay examinations of financial institutions under certain circumstances; requiring the office, upon receiving applications for authority to organize a bank or trust company, to investigate the need for new bank facilities in a primary service area or target market and the ability of such service area or target market to support new and existing bank facilities, etc.

Prohibited Governmental Transactions Involving Certain Companies and Products; Prohibiting a state agency or a local governmental entity from purchasing any products that were produced, or that contain a specified percentage of parts that were produced, in China; providing that a contract for the purchase of products by a state agency or a local governmental entity must include a provision authorizing the termination of such contract in certain circumstances; prohibiting a state agency or a local governmental entity from purchasing any product made or sold or service provided by certain technology companies, etc.

Bingo; Increasing the cap on instant bingo ticket prices; providing requirements for electronic instant bingo tickets and devices that display electronic instant bingo tickets; prohibiting persons from engaging in the manufacture or distribution of instant bingo tickets under certain circumstances, etc.

Nonprofit Taxation; Specifying that portions of property not used for certain purposes are not exempt from ad valorem taxation; specifying that exemptions for certain portions of property from ad valorem taxation are not affected so long as such portions of property are used for specified purposes, etc.

Taxation of Real Property Platform Transactions; Defining the term “residential property”; providing a methodology to be used in determining documentary stamp taxes due for certain transactions involving residential property, etc.

Limitation on Terms of Office for Members of a District School Board; Proposing amendments to the State Constitution to limit the terms of office for members of a district school board, etc.