ORLANDO, Fla. — New laws are taking effect in Florida on July 1, 2025, including protections for hotel owners and operators, and more rights for boaters.

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Public Lodging and Public Food Service Establishments

SB 606 is a new law that ultimimately makes it easier for hotels to remove people from the premises if desired. The bill amends the procedure for removal of guests from a public lodging or food establishment to provide that a notice that a guest must depart is effective upon delivery of the notice. It provides that a law enforcement officer may arrest a guest who remains after notice to leave has been provided to the guest. 

Additionally, the law requires every public food service establishment which charges an operations charge to include notice of the charge on its food menu, written contract, and website or mobile application where orders are placed.

The term “operations charge” means an automatic fee or charge, other than a government-imposed tax, that a customer is required to pay in addition to the cost of the food and beverage purchased. The term includes, but is not limited to, service charges, automatic gratuities, credit card surcharges, and delivery fees.

Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

CS 700 is a larger bill that has a lot of different provisions, some of which include the prohibition of drone use on agricultural lands by unauthorized individuals.

It also includes a prohibition of any additive to a public water supply that is not for the explicit purpose of improving water quality. That provision essentially bans fluoride as an additive in water sources across the state, to date a common practice in municipal water supplies. 

Boater Safety Act

CS 1388, otherwise known as the “Boater Freedom Act” provides that a law enforcement officer may not board any vessel or perform a vessel stop without probable cause that is a violation of vessel safety laws has occurred or is occurring, regardless of whether the owner or operator of the vessel is on board.

It prohibits a law enforcement officer from performing a vessel stop or boarding a vessel for the sole purpose of making a safety or marine sanitation equipment inspection and provides that a violation of safety and marine sanitation equipment requirements may only be considered a secondary offense.

The bill requires the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to create a “Florida Freedom Boater” safety inspection decal. The decal will be issued following the demonstration of compliance with safety equipment carriage and use requirements.

The bill also contains the “Watercraft Energy Source Freedom Act,” which prohibits a state agency, municipality, government entity, or county from restricting the use or sale of a watercraft based on the energy source used to power the watercraft.

Aggravated Animal Cruelty

CS 255, otherwise known as Dexter's Law, is a bill that requires the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to post the names of people who have been convicted of a violation related to animal cruelty. It also requires that information be in a searchable format. 

Additionally, this new law increases certain sentencing requirements for charges related to animal cruelty. 

False Reporting

CS 279 increases punishments for false reporting, a behavior otherwise known as "swatting." 

The law creates a:

  • Third degree felony for misuse of the 911 system if a person suffers great bodily harm, permanent disfigurement, or permanent disability as a proximate result of the misuse; and

  • Second degree felony for misuse of the 911 system if a person dies as a proximate result of lawful conduct arising out of the emergency response.

The law reduces the number of prior convictions needed to subject a person to an enhanced penalty of a third degree felony for misuse of the 911 system from four convictions to two convictions.

The law deletes an enhanced penalty for misusing the 911 system and receiving services of more than $100.

A court must order a person convicted of misusing the 911 system or making a false report to law enforcement to pay:

  • The costs of prosecution and investigation; and

  • Restitution to any victim who suffers damage or injury as a proximate result of lawful conduct arising out of an emergency or law enforcement response.

A defendant must also pay full restitution to a responding public safety agency for any cost incurred by responding to the incident.

Dangerous Excessive Speeding

CS 351 creates a criminal offense for “dangerous excessive speeding” if a motor vehicle driver exceeds the speed limit by 50 miles per hour (mph) or more, or operates a motor vehicle at 100 mph or more in a manner that threatens the safety of other persons or property or interferes with the operation of any vehicle.

The law provides that a person who commits dangerous excessive speeding is punished as follows:

  • Upon a first conviction, up to 30 days in jail, a fine of $500, or both.

  • Upon a second or subsequent conviction, up to 90 days in jail, a fine of $1,000, or both. A person convicted of a second or subsequent violation of dangerous excessive speeding within five years after the date of a prior conviction for such an offense must have his or her driving privilege revoked for at least 180 days but no more than one year.

The law provides that any driver who commits an infraction for exceeding the speed limit in excess of 50 mph must appear before a designated official at a mandatory hearing.

Education

CS 443 clarifies that charter schools are public schools and should be considered a public facility for the purposes of concurrency related to the development of communities.

Additionally, the law further expands charter school rights by allowing them to increase the school's capacity beyond the scope of the charter agreement, provided certain specifications were met. 

It also allows charter schools to create their own student code of conduct, and provides a way for student-athletes to join public school or private school teams if they are in a full-time virtual instruction program. 

Medical Debt

CS 547 amends billing and collection activities of hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers. It expands the scope of “extraordinary collection action” to include actions taken in relation to obtaining payment for any bill of care, rather than only bills of care that are covered under a hospital’s or ASC’s financial assistance policy.

It will also allow a hospital to sell a patient's debt without a standard 30 day notice if the debt is not subject to interest or fees, of if the debt is returned to the facility. 

Dangerous Dogs

CS 593, otherwise known as the "Pam Rock Act," revises the state regulation of dangerous dogs. The new law has a series of provisions. 

  • Requires the confiscation and impoundment of an animal that is being investigated as a dangerous dog and that has killed a person or has bitten and left a mark that scores 5 or higher on the Dunbar bite scale.

  • Permits the confiscation and impoundment of an animal that is subject to any other dangerous dog investigations.

  • Requires an animal control authority to notify the owner of the final order classifying their dangerous dog by registered mail or certified hand delivery in conformance with the provisions of chapter 48 relating to service of process.

  • Requires the owner of a dog classified as dangerous to obtain liability insurance of at least $100,000 and implant a microchip in the dog. The bill creates a third degree felony for the removal of the microchip.

Among others. 

More bills that take effect July 1