Rick Scott Signs 16 Bills Into Law

Gov. Rick Scott signed 16 bills into law Tuesday, including a bill to crack down on human trafficking in the Sunshine State.

Other bills Scott signed included eliminating specified trust funds in the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Health, a bill for public records exemptions and another bill qualifying additional deployed servicemembers for an ad valorem tax exemption.

Scott honed in on the human trafficking legislation. The bill, HB 545, establishes harsher penalities for those who commit human trafficking offenses and protects victimized children from being convicted for criminal charges.

"While we have made tremendous progress in Florida to fight the evil of human trafficking, even one victim of this unfathomable crime is too many," Scott said in a statement. "I appreciate the hard work of Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Florida Legislature for their efforts to combat human trafficking in Florida, and we will continue to do all we can to end human trafficking and care for victims.”

“Many don’t realize that human trafficking exists right here in our own state and communities. This legislation moves us one step closer to ending human trafficking in Florida by implementing harsher punishments for human traffickers and ensuring that our state’s most vulnerable are protected from further exploitation,” Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Christina Daly said.

The other 15 bills include:

HB 59           Agritourism – This bill prohibits local governments from enforcing regulations that limit agritourism and expands the definition of agritourism.
 
HB 75           Electronic Monitoring Devices – This bill makes it a felony to remove or tamper with an electronic monitoring device required by a court order.
 
HB 91           Severe Injuries Caused by Dogs – This bill allows additional factors to be considered in legal proceedings regarding dogs that have caused severe injuries.
 
HB 127         Continuing Care Facilities – This bill provides two additional options for a nursing home to satisfy financial requirements of the Gold Seal Program.
 
HB 131         Unattended Persons and Animals in Motor Vehicles – This bill provides civil immunity to rescuers who enter a vehicle to save vulnerable individuals or animals.
 
HB 241         Children and Youth Cabinet – This bill revises the membership of the Children & Youth Cabinet to include a school superintendent.
 
HB 273         Relating to Public Records – This bill creates a more specified process for requesting public records from a contractor for public services.
 
HB 381         Relating to Public Records – This bill revises the current public records exemption to protect additional information obtained by the Florida State Boxing Commission.
 
HB 479         Special Districts – This bill increases oversight and accountability of special districts.
 
HB 541         Addresses of Legal Residence – This bill relates to voter registration applications.
 
HB 5103       Alzheimer’s Disease Research – This bill carries over any unexpended balance of appropriation for the Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Disease Research Program.
 
HB 7023       Ad Valorem Tax Exemption for Deployed Servicemembers – This bill qualifies additional deployed servicemembers for an ad valorem tax exemption.
 
HB 7033       A Review under the Open Government Sunset Review Act – This bill reenacts an existing public records exemption.
 
HB 7035       A Review under the Open Government Sunset Review Act – This bill reenacts a public records exemption for certain investigative information held by the Office of Financial Regulation.
 
HB 7091       Trust Funds – This bill terminates specified trust funds in the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Health.