New Florida Laws: DEI Bans, Voter Rules, and Property Taxes

Florida’s 2026 legislative session produced roughly 90 new laws, most of them taking effect July 1, 2026, with several kicking in earlier or later. The new Florida laws for 2026 reach into voter registration, property taxes, local government diversity programs, criminal penalties, schools, healthcare, and public infrastructure. Governor Ron DeSantis signed the bulk of them, and a handful attracted national attention, including a ban on local DEI spending, a proof-of-citizenship requirement to register to vote, a new domestic terrorism designation process, and the renaming of Palm Beach International Airport after President Donald Trump.

What follows is a plain-language walk through what changed, who is affected, and when each rule starts.

Voter Registration and Driver’s License Changes

HB 991, the “Florida SAVE Act,” was signed on April 1, 2026, and takes effect January 1, 2027. Anyone registering to vote will need to provide evidence of U.S. citizenship, such as a valid passport or birth certificate. The state voter registration system will be integrated with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, using REAL ID data to verify citizenship. If DHSMV records suggest an applicant is not a citizen or has not supplied acceptable evidence, the local supervisor of elections is notified and must investigate. Flagged registrants may submit documentation to confirm eligibility, and submitting false voter registration information is explicitly classified as a felony.¹

At the polls, only secure government-issued identification is accepted. Student IDs are no longer valid for voting. All voting must be conducted on paper ballots. Candidates for office must disclose any dual citizenship, and congressional candidates must disclose their stock trading intentions while in office.²

A separate provision of HB 991 requires DHSMV to display a licensee’s citizenship status on all new, renewed, or replaced Florida driver’s licenses and state ID cards starting January 1, 2027. Non-citizens, including legal permanent residents, will have their licenses marked “NC.” When a non-citizen naturalizes, the state will issue a free replacement card. Existing licenses remain valid until they expire.³

A coalition including the League of Women Voters of Florida and the Florida Immigrant Coalition filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida challenging the citizenship requirement, alleging violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.²

Property Taxes and Local Budget Transparency

On June 24, 2026, DeSantis signed SB 4-F, the implementing legislation for a proposed constitutional amendment limiting how easily local governments can raise property tax rates. Rates up to 110% of the rolled-back rate would require a two-thirds vote of the governing body. Anything above 110% would require a unanimous vote, a three-fourths vote for larger boards, or voter approval by referendum. The underlying amendment appears on the November 2026 ballot.⁴

HB 1329, signed the same day, requires local governments to publish budget summaries, revenues, expenditures, departmental spending, and reserve levels online. Local governments must file quarterly compensation reports and conduct an annual exercise identifying strategies to cut proposed spending by 10%, with essential services such as law enforcement and fire protection excluded.⁴

DEI Ban for Counties and Cities

SB 1134, effective January 1, 2027, prohibits counties and municipalities from funding, promoting, or taking official action related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Existing ordinances, resolutions, programs, and policies related to DEI are voided, and local governments cannot spend money to establish, support, or staff a DEI office or officer.⁵

Recipients of county or municipal contracts must certify they will not use local government funds to require anyone to study DEI-related materials. A local official who violates the statute while acting in an official capacity is deemed to have committed misfeasance or malfeasance, which can lead to removal. Any resident may bring a lawsuit against a local government found in violation.⁵

Critics have argued the law’s undefined terminology could jeopardize programs supporting women- and minority-owned businesses, cultural festivals, and nonprofits. An exception was carved out during the legislative process for the city of Orlando’s permanent memorial to the Pulse nightclub shooting, and federal compliance requirements remain unaffected.⁶

State Budget and Tax Cuts

The state budget passed during a special session totals $114.5 billion (HB 5001E).⁷ The accompanying tax package, HB 7031E, contains $272.2 million in total state and local tax cuts. It includes a four-month sales tax holiday on camping, fishing, and hunting supplies; a three-year exemption on impact-resistant windows and doors to encourage home hardening; removal of sales tax on propane tanks of 20 pounds or less; and reduced tax rates on slot machine revenues and cardroom operator receipts. The annual Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday begins July 20, 2026.⁸

HB 999, passed during the 2025 session, recognizes specific gold and silver coins as legal tender for debts incurred on or after July 1, 2026.⁷

Criminal Penalties and Sex Offender Rules

A significant share of the session tightened criminal penalties and expanded law enforcement tools. Governor DeSantis signed five public safety bills on June 16, 2026, alone. Most take effect July 1, 2026.

SB 432, “Meg’s Law,” creates trafficking penalties for xylazine, the veterinary sedative known as “tranq,” and makes it a felony for gas stations, convenience stores, and vape shops to sell nitrous oxide to minors.⁹
HB 277 increases penalties for repeat domestic violence offenders and launches a two-year electronic monitoring pilot for certain offenders on probation.¹⁰
HB 445, “Missy’s Law,” adds computer pornography and child exploitation crimes to the state’s “dangerous crimes” list, restricting bail options. It also requires no-bond detention for individuals convicted of or pleading no contest to violent or sexual crimes.⁷
HB 559 makes it a third-degree felony for an adult to involve a minor in severe animal abuse, increases penalties for animal fighting, and expands the state’s public animal abuser database to track offenders for up to ten years.¹⁰
SB 1332 requires designated career offenders to register in person each year with local sheriff’s offices and provide updated information about residence, employment, vehicles, and phone numbers.⁹
HB 429 updates Florida’s gang laws to allow prosecutors to use social media activity and online admissions of affiliation as evidence of gang involvement.⁹
SB 156, the “Officer Jason Raynor Act,” enhances penalties for battery on officers and manslaughter of officers and clarifies that individuals may not use force to resist officers acting in good faith.⁹
SB 436 broadens the criteria for elevating a second battery offense to a felony, adding a prior conviction for resisting an officer with violence to the list of qualifying priors.¹¹
HB 245 replaces the term “child pornography” with “child sexual abuse material” throughout Florida statutes, aligning the state with federal Justice Department terminology. Sponsor Rep. Jessica Baker said the older term was misleading because it implied a lawful form of content. Existing penalties and offense definitions are unchanged.¹²

Sex Offender Restrictions Near Pools

SB 212, effective July 1, 2026, prohibits sex offenders convicted of crimes against children age 16 or younger from living within 1,000 feet of a public swimming pool, and from working at, volunteering at, or visiting such pools without their supervising officer’s approval. The definition of “public swimming pool” is broad, covering conventional pools, spas, wading pools, splash pads, and water recreation attractions in subdivisions, apartments, and condominiums. Private single-family home pools, hotel pools, and adults-only facilities are excluded.¹³

The law increases the restricted distance for loitering near places where children congregate from 300 feet to 500 feet, and it grants law enforcement authority to make warrantless arrests when an offender knowingly contacts a minor at a park, playground, or public swimming pool, or is purposefully present on school grounds while school is in session. Offenders already living near a public pool before the law’s enactment are exempt from the residency restriction.¹³

Domestic Terrorism Designations

HB 1471, signed on April 6, 2026, and effective July 1, 2026, creates a state process for designating groups as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations. The head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement may recommend a designation if an organization engages in activity intended to “intimidate, injure, or coerce a civilian population,” “influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion,” or “affect the conduct of government through destruction of property, assassination, murder, kidnapping, or aircraft piracy.”¹⁴

A designation requires approval by the governor and the three members of the Florida Cabinet. It must be published in the Florida Administrative Register within seven days, and the designated organization or its members may challenge it in Leon County Circuit Court within 30 days.¹⁴

Consequences include potential criminal liability for individuals who receive military training from, provide material support to, or willfully become members of a designated group. The Department of State may administratively dissolve a corporation designated as a terrorist organization. Students can be expelled from public colleges for “promoting” a designated group, and state funding is banned for institutions affiliated with such organizations.¹⁵ The legislation also prohibits Florida courts from enforcing any part of Sharia law or other foreign or religious legal codes.⁷

Schools, Athletes, and Campus Safety

SB 182 requires public schools to display portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and to teach cursive beginning in third grade, with proficiency expected by the end of fifth grade.¹⁶ SB 178, the “Bridgewater Act,” lets high school coaches spend up to $15,000 a year of their own money on food, physical therapy, and transportation for student athletes. SB 538 permits booster clubs to supplement coach compensation.⁷ HB 453 allows two years of marching band to satisfy physical education or performing arts diploma requirements.¹⁰

HB 757, signed on May 15, 2026, extends the “Chris Hixon, Coach Aaron Feis and Coach Scott Beigel Guardian Program” to Florida’s public colleges and universities. Guardians must undergo psychological evaluations, drug screenings, and at least 144 hours of training provided by local sheriff’s offices. Public postsecondary institutions must also develop active assailant response plans, establish threat management teams, and create family reunification procedures. The law creates a second-degree felony for discharging a weapon or firearm within 1,000 feet of a school and allocates $34 million for guardian training and expansion.¹⁷

Armed Volunteer Security at Places of Worship

SB 52 exempts volunteer security guards at churches, mosques, synagogues, and other places of worship from state licensing requirements for private security. Existing law generally requires a Class D license (40 hours of training for unarmed guards) and a Class G license (28 hours of firearms training). The new law drops both requirements for unpaid volunteers, and places of worship retain the right to prohibit weapons on their premises.¹⁸

Airport, Road, and Aircraft Naming

HB 919 renames Palm Beach International Airport as President Donald J. Trump International Airport, effective July 1, 2026.⁷ The Palm Beach County Department of Airports said the three-letter code is transitioning from PBI to DJT on August 18, 2026. After the state law passed, Trump moved to trademark the airport name and the “DJT” code, requiring Palm Beach County to enter a licensing agreement to use the name the state had mandated. Airport officials said the change “may be received in different ways by our passengers.”¹⁹ Operations, ownership, and county governance of the airport are not affected.²⁰

HB 33 renames Commercial Boulevard in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea as “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.” SB 628 renames State Road 80 as “President Donald J. Trump Highway” and adds Bobby Bowden’s name to Tallahassee International Airport.⁷ SB 1093 authorizes state funding for vertiports, which are charging and landing stations for vertical-takeoff aircraft.¹⁰

Environment, Energy, and Data Centers

HB 1217 prohibits state and local government entities from enforcing “net-zero” greenhouse gas emission policies.⁷ SB 290, the “Farm Bill,” preempts local governments from banning gas-powered farm and landscape equipment, including leaf blowers, though localities can still encourage alternative energy sources such as battery power. The same bill repeals a 2016 program that financially aided grocery stores in underserved or low-income communities and prohibits commercial solicitations on properties with “no solicitation” signs.²¹

SB 484, signed on May 7, 2026, creates a dedicated permitting process for large-scale data centers and requires utilities not to pass data center-related electricity costs onto residential and small-business customers. Local governments keep authority over zoning, permitting, and land use, and may set stricter standards or reject hyperscale projects entirely. Water management districts and the Department of Environmental Protection are restricted from issuing water-use permits to large-scale data centers under certain circumstances. Utilities are prohibited from serving data centers owned or controlled by “foreign countries of concern.” The law also requires a study on data center construction and operations, reported to the governor and legislative leaders by July 1, 2027.²²²³

Foreign Business Restrictions

HB 905, the “Foreign Interference Restriction and Enforcement Act,” limits state and local government business dealings with seven “countries of concern”: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, the Venezuelan regime of Nicolás Maduro, and the Syrian Arab Republic. Government agencies cannot contract with entities tied to those countries when the contract involves access to personal identifying information or information technology. Entities seeking government contracts must submit affidavits attesting they are not a “foreign source of concern,” and knowingly making a false declaration carries a third-degree felony charge.²⁴

Tax collectors may revoke or refuse to renew business tax receipts for entities doing business with Cuba in violation of federal law. The law removes the Florida-China Institute from the state’s list of official linkage institutes and prohibits public officers and candidates from accepting anything of value from designated foreign terrorist organizations or countries of concern. An exemption exists for information technology contracts where the Department of Management Services determines no reasonable alternative is available and failure to contract would pose a greater risk to public safety.²⁴

Public Union Reform

SB 1296, signed on May 1, 2026, and effective July 1, 2026, sets new requirements for public-sector unions representing civilian employees. At least 50% of employees in a bargaining unit must participate in certification, recertification, and decertification elections, and at least 50% of participants must vote affirmatively for the result to stand. Public employers are generally prohibited from providing compensation or paid leave for union activities unless the union reimburses the employer as specified in the collective bargaining agreement. Unions representing law enforcement officers, correctional officers, and firefighters are largely exempt from the law’s substantive changes.²⁵

Healthcare and Consumer Rules

SB 1808, effective January 1, 2026, requires health care practitioners, facilities, and entities to refund patient overpayments within 30 days of when the overpayment is determined. Failure to issue a timely refund can trigger disciplinary action by the applicable board or the Department of Health, and the Agency for Health Care Administration may impose fines of up to $500 per violation on facilities. The requirement does not apply to overpayments made by health insurers or HMOs.²⁶

Effective July 1, 2026: HB 47 allows medical record collection and second opinions before certain abuse allegations are reported when a child’s preexisting condition may mimic abuse. SB 428 expands swimming lesson voucher eligibility to children ages one through seven. SB 867 authorizes licensed occupational therapists to perform dry needling. HB 89 requires veterinary clinics to inform pet owners of their right to fill prescriptions at any pharmacy. SB 1004 requires pet dealers to disclose veterinarian records and creates a public animal cruelty conviction registry. HB 961 eliminates the four-year renewal requirement for disabled parking permits held by people with permanent dismemberment or amputation.¹⁰⁷

Property Insurance

The 2026 session did not produce a major insurance overhaul. According to Governor DeSantis’s office, Citizens Property Insurance policyholders across all 67 counties are seeing an average premium reduction of 8.7% in 2026, with more than 150,000 policyholders receiving reductions of 10% or greater. Broward and Miami-Dade counties are seeing average reductions of roughly 14%. The governor’s office credited the stabilization to earlier reforms that eliminated one-way attorney fees and curbed assignment-of-benefits abuses, and noted that 17 new insurance companies have entered the Florida market since those reforms.²⁷

SB 808 was moving through the 2026 session and would extend existing prohibitions against insurers refusing coverage based solely on roof age to all residential property insurance policies, including mobile home, landlord, and commercial residential policies. It would also create a new standard for low-slope roofs allowing restoration through coating systems.²⁸

What Didn’t Pass

Several high-profile proposals did not survive the session. Legislation to make UTVs street-legal, lower the gun-buying age, expand E-Verify to all employers, establish wrongful death lawsuits for fetuses, and overhaul HOA regulations (HB 657) all failed to pass.¹⁶ Large-scale preemption bills that would have overridden local zoning for “Blue Ribbon” developments, eliminated local business taxes statewide, and forced counties to consolidate 911 dispatch also died without reaching the governor’s desk.²⁹ If you were counting on any of these changes, current law still applies.

1
Florida Governor’s Office. Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Florida SAVE Act
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Florida Phoenix. DeSantis Signs Bill Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Register to Vote
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WFTV. New Florida Law Requires Driver’s Licenses to Display Citizenship Status
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Florida Governor’s Office. Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Legislation Protecting Taxpayers
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Florida Senate. CS/CS/SB 1134 Bill Summary
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Florida Phoenix. Florida Senate Votes to Ban Local Governments From Spending on DEI
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CBS News Miami. New Laws Taking Effect in Florida July 1
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Florida Senate. 2026 Tax Package
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News4Jax. DeSantis Holds Press Conference With AG Uthmeier
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Fox 13 News. New Florida Laws Take Effect July 1
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Florida Governor’s Office. Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Five Public Safety Bills
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Florida Phoenix. Florida Bill Renaming Child Pornography in Statute Clears First Hurdle
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News4Jax. These Areas Will Soon Be Off-Limits to Sex Offenders Under New Florida Law
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Florida Phoenix. DeSantis Signs Bill Allowing State Officials to Issue Domestic Terrorist Designations
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Florida Senate. CS/CS/HB 1471
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WUSF. Florida 2026 Legislative Session Ends
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Florida Governor’s Office. Governor Ron DeSantis Signs House Bill 757
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Florida Senate. CS/SB 52 Analysis
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USA Today. Palm Beach President Donald J. Trump International Airport
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Palm Beach International Airport. Palm Beach International Airport to Be Renamed
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WUSF. DeSantis Signs Wide-Ranging Florida Farm Bill Into Law
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Florida Governor’s Office. Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Law to Protect Floridians From Subsidizing Data Centers
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Florida Phoenix. Florida Has a New Law Regulating AI Data Centers
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Florida Senate. CS/CS/CS/HB 905 Bill Text
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Florida Senate. CS/CS/SB 1296 Bill Summary
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Florida Senate. CS/CS/SB 1808 Bill Summary
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Florida Governor’s Office. Governor Ron DeSantis Announces Major Insurance Rate Relief
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Florida Senate. SB 808 Analysis – Roofing Requirements for Property Insurance
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Florida Association of Counties. 2026 Sine Die Report