Students giving inspirational messages at public school events, revamped auto insurance rules, a new statewide energy plan, advertising on state trails, student-athletes being able to transfer to more competitive programs and a new state symbol all become law on Sunday.
In addition to the states $70 billion budget -- including a $1 billion boost to public education -- for the 2012-2013 fiscal year kicking into effect, more than 100 new laws and regulation repeals will hit the books, or be removed, as of July 1.
View the list of new laws here.
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnams modest energy plan, which became law without Gov. Rick Scotts signature, is the first comprehensive overhaul of energy planning in five years. In addition to providing up to $100 million in tax incentives for renewable energy investments over five years, the plan includes:
A renewable energy technologies sales tax exemption capped at $1 million a year.
Reinstatement of the biofuel portion of the renewable energy technologies investment corporate income tax credit up to $10 million per year.
Reinstatement of the renewable energy production corporate income tax credit that is equal to 1 cent per kilowatt-hour of energy produced from renewable sources. The energy would be sold with a cap of $5 million in the next fiscal year, $10 million a year through 2017.
Also cruising into law on Sunday will be the personal injury protection auto insurance reform that was a priority of Scott and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater.
The new law has been derided as an insurance agency bailout by Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, because of the House requirement for a $2,500 cap on non-emergency treatment, despite the supposedly low-cost insurance program providing $10,000 in coverage.
PIP reform has been cheered by two of the states biggest business advocates, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida.
Under the law, effective July 1:
-- Insurers would have 90 days to pay claims and an organization within the Division of Insurance Fraud would be created to combat motor vehicle insurance fraud.
-- Health-care practitioners found guilty of insurance fraud would have their licenses revoked for five years and be banned from seeking PIP reimbursement for a decade.
-- PIP coverage will no longer pay for massage or acupuncture treatments.
Groups such as the Florida Consumer Action Network, Florida Medical Association, Florida Justice Association, Florida Chiropractic Association, Florida Osteopathic Medical Association and the Florida Public Interest Research Group had argued that the House version of the reform bill, which was initially supported by Scott, would be a boon to insurance companies.
On public school campuses across the state, school districts will be able to decide if their students can give prayers and other inspirational messages at school events as long as school district employees are not involved.
The bill, opposed primarily by Democrats during the legislative session, was sponsored by Gary Siplin, D-Orlando.
The Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union sent letters to Floridas 67 school districts declaring their opposition to the law.
The students could be giving prayer to their athletes who will now be kept off the field after suffering concussions until cleared by a doctor. Another law will allow athletes to transfer without missing a game.
Supporters of HB 1403 said the intent is to ensure a high school athlete is not punished when a family moves, for divorce or foreclosure, by being forced to wait until the next season to play. Opponents warned that the bill could result in the school sport powerhouses recruiting athletes away from small schools.
The Florida High School Athletic Association, which noted during the regular session that none of its member schools asked for the bill, gave their unenthusiastic support for the law.
This legislation grew out of sincere and valid concerns about some specific issues regarding high school athletics in Florida, and we intend to address those concerns in a meaningful way, wrote Roger Dearing, executive director of the FHSAA. We recognize that the bill was well-intentioned, and its sponsors truly had the best interests of Florida student-athletes, parents and schools at heart.
At state parks, corporate sponsorship will now be a means to help pay for the maintenance of the public greenways and trails.
The law allowing the state Department of Environmental Protection to enter into agreement with corporate sponsors limits signs to trailheads, parking lots and access points.
And on Sunday the Schooner Western Union, a 130-foot vintage, wooden tall ship becomes Florida's state flagship.
The ship, built in 1939 to service undersea telegraph cables, is now located in Key West and is being turned into a museum.
Not all the laws will be immediately implemented. A law that bans the state from entering $1 million contracts with companies that also do business with Castros Cuba has been delayed by court action.
U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore has granted an injunction against the law prohibiting the state from doing business with companies that do business with nations on the U.S. State Department list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Coral Gables-based Odebrecht USA claims that only the federal government can set foreign policy.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
