OKEECHOBEE- On July 1, a wide range of new laws officially took effect in Florida. From regulating the use of artificial intelligence in political campaign ads to giving recent mothers a way out of jury duty, here’s a brief look at some of the 182 new laws that are now in place. 

CS/SB 1264 creates a history of communism taskforce to develop recommendations regarding curriculum and standards for instruction on the history of communism.  Each school district in the state is required to annually certify to the Department of Education that it has provided the required instruction on the history of communism. 

An early version of the bill mistakenly listed the Third Reich of Nazi Germany as a foreign communist movement, but that was scrubbed from the bill in a committee. 

CS/HB 919 establishes regulations regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in political campaign ads. The bill requires disclaimers for any ads that use an image, video, audio, or graphic created with the use of generative AI that appears to depict a real person performing an action that did not actually occur. The bill permits the Florida Elections Commission to enforce civil penalties on those who don’t include a disclaimer. 

Women who have recently given birth will now have a way out of jury service. CS/HB 461 requires that a woman who has given birth within six months before the reporting date on a summons for jury service must be excused from jury service upon request. 

CS/HB 49 removes restrictions for 16 and 17-year-olds concerning the number of hours they can work per day and per week. The bill removes the restriction of working for more than 8 hours in any one day when school is scheduled the following day, as well as the restriction of working more than 30 hours in a week when school is in session. 

CS/SB 678 creates the Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy Grant Program within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The program will award grants to statewide and local law enforcement agencies or medical examiner’s offices to support the processing of DNA samples. The testing will help provide leads in unsolved violent crimes and help identify human remains. 

CS/SB 1286 requires a law enforcement agency to return any weapons or firearms taken from a person after an arrest but not seized as evidence, within 45 days of their release from detention. The person requesting their firearm back after an arrest must provide a form of government-issued ID; and must successfully complete a criminal history background check confirming the person is not prohibited from possessing a firearm under state or federal law. 

HB 775 increases the age at which an infant may be surrendered from seven days old to 30. Florida’s “Safe Haven Law” allows parents who are either unwilling or unable to care for their newborn infants to surrender them at hospitals, fire stations and EMS stations. 

HB 275 creates new offenses under state law involving critical infrastructure. Under the bill, damaging critical infrastructure such as electric substations, railroad switching yards or gas processing plants could result in both criminal and civil penalties.