STATE ID DESIGNATIONS An individual who is deaf or hard of hearing may add the international symbol for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to his or her driver license or identification card.
TELEPHONE SOLICITATION Two bills passed this year dealing with telephone solicitors. Senate Bill 568, sponsored by Senator Dana Young (R-Tampa), revises the definition of the term “telephonic sales call” to include voicemail transmissions and prohibits the transmission of voicemails to individuals who ask not to receive solicited calls. House Bill 1267, sponsored by Representative Sam Killebrew (R-Winter Haven), authorizes telecommunications companies who provide service to customers in Florida to preemptively block certain phone calls from reaching a customer’s phone.
BURGLAR ALARMS This bill requires an alarm company to make two attempts, by telephone, text or other means, to confirm that an alarm has been tripped for both residential or commercial break-ins.
STATE SYMBOLS This bill stops the scheduled repeal of the loggerhead turtle as the official state saltwater reptile and the Florida cracker horse as the official state horse. The bill also designates the Florida cracker cattle as the official state heritage cattle breed.
CORAL REEFS Thanks to bill sponsors Representative Kristin Jacobs (D-Coconut Creek) and Senator Lauren Book (D-Plantation), the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Ecosystem Conservation Area now exists. The conservation area includes the sovereign submerged lands and state waters offshore of Broward, Martin, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties from the St. Lucie Inlet in the north to the northern boundary of the Biscayne National Park in the south.