BILLS THAT FAILED
The following is a sampling of bills which failed this legislative session, largely because of the impasse between the Senate and House. Expect to see many of these issues return next year.
SALES TAX HOLIDAYS The annual back-to-school weekend holiday (to begin on July 31st), a July 4th tax free day on firearms and ammunition, and a small-business tax holiday two days after Thanksgiving are part of the House’s proposed legislation to cut taxes. The Senate never considered a tax reduction package, which is one of the items of contention between the two chambers’ budgets.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA Following up from last year’s successful legislation, a bill to expand the types of medical marijuana available for citizens with chronic diseases and defining how growers acquire a license for the current low-THC marijuana was ignored by leadership.
AGRITOURISM Two bills designed to help agritourism in our state died in the last minutes of session. One prohibited a local government from enforcing regulations or policies that limited an agritourism activity on land classified as agricultural and another exempted certain nonresidential farm buildings, including pole barns, from the Florida Fire Prevention Code.
ALCOHOL Legislation failed which prohibited the sale and possession of “powdered alcohol” or Palcohol in the state. The bill passed the Senate 35-2 but the House did not take up the issue on the floor. Another comprehensive bill would have done away with the “stand alone” concept of hard liquor sales in grocery stores. The legislation failed in its final House committee.
DIGITAL ASSETS The “Florida Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act” would have authorized a personal representative to have access to specified digital assets of a deceased person, such as emails, text messages and social media accounts.