Minimum Wage, Smoking, Electronic Records, DNA Addressed By FL Laws Taking Effect Oct. 1

FLORIDA — A series of new state laws that passed before the legislative session ended in April are about to hit the books Friday. While many went into effect July 1 — which is the start of Florida’s fiscal year — a handful are slated to take effect Oct. 1.

A full list of Florida’s new and amended laws that were passed in 2021 and went into effect at various times can be found here.

Here are some of the highlights that will go into effect Friday:

Amendment 2 - Minimum Wage

This one wasn't actually passed during the legislative session earlier this year. Approved by Florida voters Nov. 3, Amendment 2 gradually increases Florida's minimum wage.

It technically went into effect Jan. 1, but the state will see its next jump in wages Thursday. While the minimum wage will increase to $10 an hour that day, ultimately, it will increase to $15 an hour by Sept. 30, 2026.

SB 1080 – Tobacco and Nicotine Products

This new law presents one of the state’s biggest changes, as it increases the age of those who can legally purchase or possess tobacco and other nicotine products from 18 to 21 years old. It also makes it illegal for anyone younger than 21 to smoke or vape near or on school property.

SB 82 – Sponsorship Identification Disclaimers

Aimed at political advertisers, all text messages about elections and including political messages will need to have a disclaimer identifying it as an advertisement.

SB 252 – Child Care Facilities

This new law establishes the Child Safety Alarm Act in hopes of decreasing the number of children left in hot cars. Though it takes effect Oct. 1, childcare facilities affected by it actually have until Jan. 1 to ensure all vehicles they use to drive around children have an alarm system that reminds drivers to check for children before leaving and locking them.

SB 890 – Use of Electronic Databases

To protect personal information, this law requires law enforcement officers to receive training on only accessing driver and vehicle databases in an official capacity.

SB 80 – Child Welfare

This bill creates several changes for Florida’s child welfare system and accomplishes the following:

• requiring every case record for children in the care of the Department of Children and Families to have a face sheet.
• updating how to prioritize the placement of children.
• expanding the role of existing multidisciplinary teams when interacting with families.
• better addressing the complexities of sibling groups when considering out-of-home care, placement and visitation.
• increasing support for young adults aging out of care.
• allowing the court to consider reinstation parental rights when certain factors are satisfied.

SB 676 – Specialty and Special License Plates

This bill makes the following changes involving specialty license plates in Florida:

• allowing someone who bought a voucher for a specialty license plate that has met its presale requirement but has not been issued to use the annual fee that was collected toward any other specialty license plate or to receive a refund.
• requiring the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to discontinue existing specialty license plates of independent colleges or universities that decide to use a standard template specialty license plate.
• revising provisions regarding eligibility or uses of annual fees for existing specialty license plates for Florida Indian River Lagoon, Wildlife Foundation of Florida and Divine Nine.
• creating specialty license plates and specifying their design and how the user fee funds will be used, for Florida State Parks, Support Healthcare Heroes, Biscayne Bay, Disease Prevention & Early Detection, Honor Flight, Protect Marine Wildlife and 30A.com/Scenic Walton.
• creating a new special military plate for recipients of the Army of Occupation Award.

HB 921 – Electronic Records

This bill amends S 836 to prohibit written threats sent electronically, particularly threats of mass shootings or terrorism.

The amended law also removes requirements under the current law that a threat posted online needs to be sent directly to the subject of the threat. It also defines the term “electronic record” and addresses cyberstalking.

HB 1523 – Corporate Espionage

This bill creates the Florida Corporate Espionage Act, designed to prohibit the theft and trafficking of trade secrets.

HB 833 – Unlawful Use of DNA

This bill establishes the Protecting DNA Privacy Act, creating four new crimes related to the unlawful use of DNA. These crimes include:

• a first-degree misdemeanor for those who collect the DNA sample of another individual with the intent to conduct DNA analysis without their consent.
• a third-degree felony for those who collect the DNA sample of another individual and submit it for DNA analysis or conduct a DNA analysis without their consent.
• a third-degree felony for a person who discloses another individual’s DNA analysis results to a third party without their consent.
• a second-degree felony for a person who sells or transfers another person’s DNA sample or the results of their DNA analysis to a third party without their consent.

HB 363 – Crime Stoppers

This bill makes it a third-degree felony to disclose privileged and protected information provided to Crime Stoppers.