More than 100 new laws took effect in Florida on July 1, 2026, bringing significant changes to business operations, public safety, consumer protections, and the education system. Governor Ron DeSantis signed the underlying $117.6 billion state budget (SB 4F) alongside approximately 140 separate measures that shape the state’s updated regulatory landscape.
The most notable legislation is grouped by sector below.
🛡️ Public Safety & Criminal Justice
- Missy’s Law (HB 445): Requires courts to immediately take a defendant into custody without bond if they plead guilty, plead no contest, or are convicted of a “dangerous crime” pending sentencing. Computer pornography and child exploitation are now officially added to the state’s dangerous crimes list. [1, 2]
- Sex Offender Restrictions (SB 212): Prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of public swimming pools, including those located at apartment complexes and government facilities. It also extends loitering restrictions around children’s congregation points from 300 feet to 500 feet. [1, 2, 3]
- AI Child Exploitation Laws (HB 1159): Makes the transmission of artificial intelligence-generated child sexual abuse material a second-degree felony. [1, 2]
- Domestic Violence Enhancements (HB 277): Increases financial relocation assistance for victims from $1,500 to $2,500 per claim. It also allows judges to weigh threats to family pets when ruling on domestic violence injunctions. [1]
🏬 Business, Utilities & Consumer Protection
- Restaurant Fee Transparency (SB 606): Forces restaurants that add automatic “operations charges” (like delivery fees, automatic gratuities, or credit card surcharges) to clearly disclose them on menus, online ordering apps, and contracts. Every receipt must itemize these fees on separate lines
- Data Center Utility Protections (SB 484): Prevents commercial electric utilities from passing the steep infrastructure and power demand costs of large-scale data centers down to everyday residential and small-business customers. [1, 2]
- Pet Buyer Protection (SB 1004): Expands remedies for consumers who purchase sick animals. Pet dealers must fully disclose financing terms, provide formal veterinary history, and permit penalty-free contract cancellations if a pet is deemed unfit due to illness within a specified timeframe. [1, 2, 3]
- Corporate Protected Series LLCs (SB 316): Establishes a business framework allowing a single Florida LLC to form multiple internal “protected series,” protecting the assets of one division from the legal liabilities or creditors of another. [1, 2]
- E-Verify Expansion (HB 197): Removes previous employee-count exemptions, requiring all private employers in Florida to utilize the federal E-Verify database to validate worker authorizations
🏫 Education & School Mandates
- Classroom Portraits (SB 182): Mandates that all Florida public school districts display portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in a highly visible location in every classroom. The law also adds cursive writing requirements and stops charter schools from dismissing students strictly based on academic performance.
- The “Teddy Bridgewater Act” (SB 178): Permits high school head coaches to spend up to $15,000 of their personal funds annually per team to support student welfare (providing items like food, transit, or recovery services) without it counting as an illegal recruitment benefit.
- Teacher Pay Incentives (HB 1279): Grants school districts the ability to circumvent collective bargaining to offer direct, immediate pay incentives to highly effective teachers who transition to lower-performing “D” or “F” rated schools. [1, 2, 3]