Sen. Mack Bernard

Assessment of Property Owned and Used by Small Businesses; Providing that real property owned and used for commercial purposes by small businesses will be assessed at just value after a certain date; prohibiting the annual change in assessed value from exceeding a specified amount; requiring that the assessed value of the property be lowered to the just value of the property under certain circumstances; providing that a change in ownership or control of the property will cause the property to be assessed at just value, etc.

Mobile Homes; Revising the general obligations of mobile home park owners; authorizing a unit of local government to adopt and enforce local codes or ordinances for specified purposes, etc.

Watercraft Restrictions Based on Energy Source; Providing an exception to the prohibition on state agencies, governmental authorities, and local governments restricting the use or sale of watercraft based on the energy source used to power the watercraft if such watercraft is used on certain bodies of water, etc.

Prohibited Discrimination Based on Hairstyle; Citing this act as the "Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act” or “CROWN Act"; prohibiting discrimination based on protected hairstyle against a student in the K-20 public education system; defining the terms “race” and “protected hairstyle” for purposes of public K-12 nondiscrimination requirements; defining the terms “race” and “protected hairstyle” for purposes of antidiscrimination requirements for private schools participating in the state school choice scholarship program, etc.

Performance Reports of Circuit and County Court Judges; Citing this act as the “Judicial Efficiency and Transparency (JET) Act”; requiring each clerk of the circuit court to prepare an annual performance report with specified information regarding each circuit and county court judge; requiring such reports to be posted by a certain date on specified websites; authorizing judges to prepare a specified explanatory statement, etc.

Maddy summarySB 662 prohibits all school district employees in Florida public schools from using corporal punishment on students. It removes existing allowances for corporal punishment from multiple state statutes, eliminating requirements for principal approval, parent consent, or written explanations. The bill fully bans this disciplinary practice, replacing any prior procedures with a complete prohibition. It takes effect on July 1, 2026, directly affecting all public school students and staff in Florida.

Rent of Affordable Housing Dwelling Units; Defining the terms “affordable” and “base rent”; prohibiting certain landlords of specified dwelling units from increasing the base rent of a unit during the term of a rental agreement, etc.

Public Records/Petitions for Injunctions for Protection Against Serious Violence by a Known Person; Providing an exemption from public records requirements for petitions, and the contents thereof, for injunctions for protection against serious violence by a known person; providing an exemption from public records requirements for information that can be used to identify a petitioner or respondent in such a petition for an injunction; providing a statement of public necessity, etc.

Prohibition on Levying Ad Valorem Taxes on Tangible Personal Property; Conforming provisions to proposed amendments made to the State Constitution which prohibit levying ad valorem taxes on tangible personal property by counties, school districts, and municipalities; repealing a provision relating to the property appraiser’s assessments and effect of determinations by value adjustment boards; repealing a provision relating to extending the date for filing tangible personal property tax returns; repealing a provision relating to tax returns to show all exemptions and claims, etc.

Limitation on the Assessed Value of New Homestead Property; Proposing amendments to the State Constitution to limit the assessed value of new homestead property established after a change of ownership which had an assessed value of less than a certain amount to no more than 150 percent of the assessed value of the property for the preceding year for ad valorem taxation purposes and to provide an effective date, etc.