Rep. Michelle Salzman

Areas of Critical State Concern; Provides exemption from specified payment & performance bond requirements for specified entities; extends specific Florida Forever appropriations to be used for purchase of lands in Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern.

Virtual Currency Kiosks; Revising the requirements for certain rules adopted by the Financial Services Commission; revising the actions by money services businesses, authorized vendors, or affiliated parties which constitute grounds for disciplinary action; prohibiting persons from engaging in certain business unless they are registered or exempt from registration; prohibiting a virtual currency kiosk business from operating in this state without registering or renewing its registration; requiring the Office of Financial Regulation to give a specified notice to applicants; specifying that certain money transmitters are exempt from registration as a virtual currency kiosk business but are subject to certain provisions; requiring applicants to submit certain information to the office to be registered as a virtual currency kiosk business; requiring a virtual currency kiosk business to ensure that its virtual currency kiosk requires certain attestations from the customer and displays a certain disclosure; requiring a virtual currency kiosk business to provide a customer with a specified physical or electronic receipt upon completion of a virtual currency transaction; requiring a virtual currency kiosk business to issue a full refund under certain circumstances, etc.

Electronic Payments Made to Units of Local Governments; Requires units of local government to accept certain forms of payments; requires such local governments accept payments online.

Volunteering at Polling Locations; Provides that specified high school students who volunteer to assist poll workers are not subject to provisions prohibiting certain agencies and state & local officials from soliciting, accepting, or otherwise using private funds or certain personal services for election-related expenses.

Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances; Prohibits, beginning on specified date, certain use & sale, purchase, or distribution of aqueous film-forming foam; requires, beginning on specified date, certain entities to submit aqueous film-forming foam inventories & disposal plans to DEP; prohibits, beginning on specified date, possession & use of aqueous film-forming foam; authorizes DEP to administer certain grants or cost share programs; provides penalties & injunctive relief; requires certain public entities disposing of domestic wastewater biosolids and treated effluent to quarterly conduct specified samplings & submit results to DEP; limits purpose such samplings until specified standards are established by EPA & adopted by DEP.

Maddy summaryHB 477 revises Florida's definition of "drug paraphernalia" to exclude specific testing products like fentanyl test strips and reagent kits. These products, which identify dangerous substances such as fentanyl, xylazine, cocaine, or amphetamines, are now explicitly exempt from being classified as drug paraphernalia. The bill excludes only products used solely to detect presence - not quantity or potency - and aims to support harm reduction by enabling users to avoid lethal substances. This change directly affects Floridians who use these testing tools to prevent overdoses, aligning with legislative findings on the opioid crisis.

Maddy summaryHB 429 revises Florida's legal definition of "criminal gang member" in section 874.03 of state statutes. The bill defines a criminal gang member as someone who either admits membership (in person or online) or meets two or more of 12 specific criteria, such as wearing gang-related clothing, using gang hand signs, having gang tattoos, associating with known members, using gang-related language on social media, or being identified by a reliable informant. It explicitly includes social media activity, communications, and recordings promoting gang activity as evidence of membership. The law would take effect on October 1, 2026, and applies to individuals potentially identified under these revised standards.

Fraudulent Entry of Residential Dwellings; Creates crime of fraudulent entry of residential dwelling unit; prohibits person from entering into & taking possession of residential dwelling unit under specified circumstances; provides criminal penalty; provides that fraudulent entry of residential dwelling unit is act of noncompliance for which landlord may terminate rental agreement.

Veterans Affairs; Revises admissions process for veterans treatment court programs; authorizes court, in consultation with multidisciplinary team, to determine eligibility for veterans treatment court programs; requires court to consider recommendation of state attorney when making eligibility determination; authorizes sentencing courts to divert defendants to veterans treatment court programs under certain circumstances; requires certain notice be provided to defendants; provides for disposition of probation or community control violations by program participants.

Educator Preparation and Certification; Authorizing an educator preparation institute to allow certain program participants to enroll in introductory coursework; revising the criteria for the award of a temporary educator certification to include certain persons with expired professional certificates; requiring that subject area coverages and endorsements for a certificateholder be reinstated with the certificateholder's professional certificate; revising requirements for reinstatement of a professional certificate; providing that certain requirements for reinstatement of a professional certificate may not be satisfied using specific inservice points; requiring the Florida Center for Teaching Excellence to collaborate with the David C. Anchin Center for the Advancement of Teaching for specified purposes; requiring, rather than authorizing, the center to submit a specified professional learning system for approval by the department; requiring the center to allow certain certified educators to use such professional learning system for specified purposes at no cost to the educator; requiring the center to submit inservice points for such educators to the department; requiring the center to provide information on certain school district professional learning systems to certain certified educators, etc.