From Vouchers to Guns, New Laws Take Effect

File photo: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis waves to people as he arrives to speak about tax relief during a press conference at MVB Appliance on Southeast 8th Street in Ocala, Fla. on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2023.

More school vouchers. Expanded restrictions on teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity. Limits on using TikTok. Carrying guns without concealed-weapons licenses. A larger Florida State Guard.

More than 200 laws passed during the 2023 legislative session, including a record $116.5 billion budget, will take effect Saturday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed nearly 300 bills that the Republican-controlled Legislature passed during the session. About one-third went into effect immediately or will hit the books in October or January.

Here are some of the laws that will take effect Saturday:

— SB 2500, a $116.5 billion budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which will run from Saturday through June 30. DeSantis vetoed $510.9 million from the budget passed by lawmakers in May.

— HB 1, expanding taxpayer-funded vouchers to all Florida students and eliminating income-eligibility requirements.

— HB 3, prohibiting government investment strategies that consider “environmental, social and governance,” or ESG, standards.

— HB 5, eliminating Enterprise Florida, the state’s business-recruitment agency. Contracts and programs will be shifted to the Department of Economic Opportunity, which will be renamed the Department of Commerce.

— SB 102, making changes to try to expand affordable housing, including boosting funding for housing and rental programs, providing incentives for investment and encouraging mixed-use developments in struggling commercial areas.

— SB 106, designating $200 million to help link hiking and biking trails, which are part of the Shared-Use Nonmotorized Trail Network, to a statewide wildlife corridor.

— SB 214, preventing credit-card companies from tracking firearm and ammunition sales through a separate “merchant category code” at gun businesses.

— HB 225, allowing “opening remarks” of up to two minutes on public-address systems before high-school championship events. The change came amid a legal battle about whether a Christian school should have been able to offer a prayer over the loudspeaker before a championship football game.

— SB 240, offering tax breaks for businesses that employ apprentices or pre-apprentices.

— SB 262, placing restrictions on large online companies about collecting and using consumers’ personal data.

— SB 264, preventing, with some exceptions, property purchases in Florida by people from China who are not U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents.

— SB 266, prohibiting colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

— HB 379, prohibiting the use of the social-media platform TikTok on devices owned by school districts and through internet access provided by districts. TikTok has been controversial because of its Chinese ownership.

— HB 389, allowing school districts to provide free menstrual hygiene products in schools.

— HB 411, changing residency requirements for county school-board members. The bill will require board members to reside in the districts they represent by the date they take office, rather than at the time they qualify to run.

— HB 477, imposing eight-year term limits on school-board members, down from the current 12 years.