Growlers, new budget, tax cuts part of new Florida laws

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida legislators passed more than 200 bills this year during their regular 60-day session and 19-day special session. Most of those bills take effect on Wednesday, the start of the state’s fiscal year. One of the new laws, a 24-hour waiting period for abortions, is being blocked by a state judge.

Here’s a roundup of some of the measures that take effect:

BUDGET: It took four months but legislators recently approved a new state budget. The more than $78 billion budget includes a boost in per-student funding, keeps college tuition at current levels, and includes money for the state’s beleaguered prisons system and replaces federal aid being lost by the state’s charity hospitals.

GROWLERS: Florida breweries will finally be able to sell beer in the popular 64-ounce refillable size known as a “growler.” Current law had allowed 32-ounce and 128-ounce growlers, but not the size in the middle, which brewers and craft beer fans say is the best size to buy the increasingly popular brews.

GAY ADOPTION: Florida legislators repealed the state’s ban on gay adoption as part of a comprehensive measure that creates additional incentives for people to adopt special needs children.

TAX CUTS: A comprehensive package of more than $400 million in tax cuts officially takes effect, including a slight decrease in the taxes charged on cellphone and cable television bills. Sales taxes on textbooks will no longer be charged starting on July 1. The tax cut package also authorized a 10-day back to school sales tax holiday in August.

CRIME VICTIMS RECORDINGS: Child rape victims have legal permission to secretly record their rapists under a new law that was prompted by a state Supreme Court decision. The court ordered a new trial for a man convicted of repeatedly raping his stepdaughter because a judge during his first trial allowed recordings his stepdaughter secretly recorded.

DRONES: A new law places limits on the use of remote-controlled drones. It makes it illegal to use drones to take photos of people on their own property. The restrictions would also apply to state and local governments. The legislation does not call for any criminal penalties. Instead it allows people to sue someone who photographs them with a drone.

WEBSITES: Websites that sell music and movies must post identification and contact information on their sites under a new Florida law. The bill is designed to combat Internet piracy of music and movies but it drew opposition from some of the nation’s biggest Internet companies.

RIGHT TO TRY:  Terminally ill patients in Florida will be able to take experimental drugs, even if the medicines don’t have final federal approval under a new law. The “Right to Try Act” applies to patients whose doctors say they have less than a year to live. Patients will be able to take experimental drugs as long as the medicines have gone through the first phase of federal approval. Marijuana isn’t allowed under the new law.

TICKET QUOTAS: Traffic ticket quotas for law enforcement agencies become illegal under a new law. Legislators passed the so-called “Waldo Bill” during the regular session.  The bill’s nickname comes from the city of Waldo on heavily travelled U.S. 301, once considered one of the nation’s worst speed traps. In 2014, Waldo police officers disclosed a quota system and it was reported that tickets accounted for nearly half of the city’s revenue. The police force has since been disbanded.