Specialty License Plates/Florida Wildflower; Increasing the annual use fee for the Florida Wildflower license plate and providing a discount for owners purchasing the plate for more than a specified number of vehicles, etc.
Use of Campaign Funds for Campaign-related Child Care Expenses; Authorizing a candidate to use funds on deposit in his or her campaign account to pay for campaign-related child care expenses under specified conditions; requiring a candidate to maintain specified records for a specified timeframe and provide such records to the Division of Elections upon request; requiring a candidate to disclose the use of campaign funds for campaign-related child care expenses in his or her regular campaign finance reports, etc.
Maddy summarySB 626 updates Florida's school immunization requirements by allowing the Department of Health to add new communicable diseases to the mandatory list through rulemaking, instead of pre-listing them. It directly affects all Florida students entering public or private schools, as it modifies which diseases require vaccination for attendance. The bill keeps existing requirements for diseases like polio, measles, mumps, and chickenpox but gives the Department authority to expand the list based on current health needs. The changes will take effect July 1, 2026, and immunizations must remain free at county health departments. The bill does not add new diseases immediately but establishes a process for future updates.
Maddy summarySB 242 repeals Section 381.96 of Florida Statutes, which previously governed pregnancy support and wellness services. This procedural bill removes an existing legal provision but does not create new services or funding. The repeal takes effect on July 1, 2026, after which the repealed statute will no longer apply. The bill directly affects the legal framework for pregnancy support services in Florida, though it does not specify new policies to replace the repealed section.
Statewide, Standardized Assessments; Requiring the Department of Education to develop versions of statewide, standardized assessments and specified portions of the statewide, standardized coordinated screening and progress monitoring system, respectively, in certain languages by a specified date; requiring the department to develop a timetable and an action plan for the development and implementation of such assessments and written portions of the system; authorizing parents to prohibit the use of such assessments and portions of the system in certain languages, etc.
Maddy summarySB 492 amends Florida law to establish minimum penalties for unlicensed contracting violations. It requires courts to impose at least 15 days in jail or 12 months of probation for individuals committing offenses listed in Section 489.127(1), such as falsely claiming licensure, operating without a permit, or using a suspended registration. The bill clarifies that contractors operating with inactive or suspended licenses are still considered unlicensed. These changes apply to anyone violating contractor licensing rules, directly affecting unlicensed contractors who engage in prohibited activities. The law takes effect July 1, 2026.
Housing; Defining the term “primary dwelling unit”; requiring local governments to adopt, by a specified date, an ordinance to allow accessory dwelling units to be approved in certain areas; requiring the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to evaluate the efficacy of using mezzanine finance and the potential of tiny homes for specified purposes, 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.
Paid Parental Leave; Defining the term “paid parental leave”; requiring the state to provide paid parental leave to certain employees for a specified period of time; prohibiting the state from requiring that an employee use his or her annual or sick leave for paid parental leave; providing that the employee is entitled to accumulate specified benefits during such leave, etc.
Customer Service Callback Queues; Establishing a pilot program to require the Department of Commerce to use a callback queue for returning certain calls; requiring that calls be returned in a specified manner; requiring the department to report specified information to the Legislature by a certain date, etc.
